Changed
by IloveHarryPotter7-21-07
Summary: Another classic Lily Evans and James Potter love story. My tale of how Lily comes to realize that James has changed from the egotistical boy she believed him to be into the man she is beginning to realize he is. Canon, Mostly correct grammar and spelling.
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings! This is my first fanfic story, so I hope it's okay. ****Although my greatest wish is to be J.K. Rowling, I am not her, therefore, this entire story belongs to her!**

**Please review when you've finished reading. I value your opinion, and you have a say in whether I continue writing this story or not!**

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><p>James Potter's heart faltered for a moment, sputtered back to life, then hammered against his rib cage the moment he spotted the love of his life. She was down the corridor, a few meters ahead of him and his three best mates, walking deep in conversation with Marlene McKinnon. Lily Evans. She was nodding agreeably with something Marlene was saying, her lips pursed together, like she was trying to think of a solution to a complex problem. He knew that expression all too well; it was the expression she wore whenever Professor McGonagall asked her a question about theories, laws, or properties in Transfiguration class. James held his hand to his heart, feeling the quick, pounding pulse beneath his fingertips. He shook his head at his own reaction. It was ridiculous, the way she affected him. And it was even more ridiculous that his heart tried to jump out of his chest every single time he had caught sight of her in the past six years. Seeing as they attended the same school ten months of the year, you would think the reaction would erode, but nope. Apparently not.<p>

"Hey!" He called down the hall. "Evans!" He didn't honestly know what he was planning on saying, but he felt the urge to talk to her, to see her up close and personal, to count the cute little freckles that were sprinkled across her pale cheeks and button nose.

She swung around, her brow furrowed into an irritated frown over her almond shaped eyes, the exact shade of a brilliantly polished emerald gemstone. They were also as hard as gemstones as she glared at him. She must have recognized his voice; she never frowned at other people when they called her name. Why did she seem to hate him so much? Okay, well, he knew why. He'd been a real prat most of the years he'd known her. He just wanted another chance though, a chance for her to really know him. Maybe she wouldn't despise him so much if she saw him how he was normally, not the falsely confident and egotistic fifteen year old boy she always seemed to think of him as.

"Yes?" she said, her tone wary.

"I was just wondering if-" She cut him off.

"James Potter, for the one hundred and fifty-eighth time, I will not accompany you to Hogsmade." Lily turned away from him and marched down the hall, her long, dark red hair swinging from side to side with her hips. Marlene cast him an apologetic glance, but followed after her, nearly running to keep up with Lily's quick stride.

"Sweet of you to keep track of how many times I've asked you out!" James called loudly after her, slumping his shoulders a little as she left the corridor.

"One hundred fifty-ninth time lucky, Prongs?" Sirius encouraged, leaning against a stone pillar, looking as though he hadn't a concern in the world. His midnight black hair fell into his deep gray eyes with a sort of casual elegance, framing his tan, chiseled face and partially concealing his dark, haughty eyebrows. Sirius (aka Padfoot) was James' best mate, and occasionally people mistakened them for brothers. They were both tall, well built, and had dark hair, but while Sirius had the proud, aristocratic features and elegance of his long pureblood lineage, James was more fair-skinned, with hair that persistently stuck up out of the back of his head and round, wire-rimmed glasses to help his nearsightedness.

James shook his head dejectedly as a sense of despair settled over him. "I was seriously just going to ask her if she wants to be a Potions master when we're all done with school."

"Why?" Remus' pale brow furrowed over his light blue eyes.

"I don't know." James shrugged. "I'm just curious. I barely talked to her last year at all. I don't know what her plans are after we finish here." _What if I never see her again after this year? _he thought worriedly, but didn't voice his concern aloud. The idea merely darkened the cloud that seemed to hang over him.

"She'll come to her senses, Prongs." Remus said kindly.

"I hope so." James grimaced.

The scars on Remus' face were thrown into sharp relief as they walked through a patch of sunlight cast through a cobwebbed window in the corridor. The school nurse could do incredible things with a wand and a tube of odoriferous ointment, but some wounds were too powerfully magical to heal by normal means. The first few grays were already peeking through his tawny brown hair, a strong indicator of the stress he faced every month. James immediately felt guilty for pitying himself about his issues with Lily. He didn't have to face the excruciating and horrible transformation from human to wolf every month like poor Remus did.

"Of course she will." Sirius consoled.

"We'd better hurry up, you know how Professor Greenhorn gets during NEWT year." Remus said, shouldering his book bag more securely as he quickened his pace. "We don't want to be late."

Peter scurried after him, no doubt terrified of what Greenhorn would say if they weren't at Herbology in time. James and Sirius followed behind them at a leisurely pace.

"Who needs NEWTs, really though?" Sirius complained stridently. "Not to sound like an 'arrogant toerag.'" He wiggled his dark eyebrows at James. "But I mean, honestly, we were at NEWT level in fourth year, for Merlin's sake!"

"I hear you." James agreed as they passed a group of sixth year girls, who giggled nervously as the Marauders passed by

"Ladies." Sirius acknowledged them with a nod. A particularly small girl with oversized robes let out a nervous-sounding squeak, turned radish red, and hid her face behind her hands.

"I still don't understand why girls are constantly giggling when I walk by." Peter mused as the two dark-haired boys caught up. "Or are they laughing at you? I never know."

"It's you, Peter." Sirius drawled, shaking his hair back from his face. "Haven't you noticed? They obviously all fancy you!"

"You're joking, aren't you?" Peter looked fretful.

A faintly pitying expression crossed Sirius's dark eyes. "Oh, look, there's Alice!" He changed the subject quickly and lengthened his stride to catch up with her.

"Sirius!" their friend Alice grinned at him, her cute, round face and baby blue eyes lighting up at the sight of the four boys.

Sirius pulled her into a friendly hug and ruffled her chestnut hair. "How are you this fine day?"

"All right, I guess…" She stuck out her tongue. "Lily is driving me slightly mad."

"She does the same to me." James sighed, slipping an arm around Alice's shoulder. He felt her shoulders shake with soft laughter.

"I think she drives us mad in somewhat different ways."

"I would hope so." James remarked. Alice elbowed his firm stomach playfully.

"Why is she driving you mad?" Remus inquired politely.

"She talked my ear off at breakfast; she simply won't stop talking about James." Alice groaned dramatically.

James smirked. So she was thinking about him...

"Grumbling, more like it." Alice added thoughtfully.

"Well, it's a start." James deflated a bit. "We all know she loves me." He found it easier to deal with the fact that the only girl he'd ever loved seemed to detest him when he at least pretended otherwise.

Alice put on a high-pitched voice, apparently in an imitation of her best friend."'That Potter! What a conceited, vainglorious, swollen-headed snotrag!' Sure. She most definitely fancies you." Alice rolled her eyes, returning to her normal voice

"Vainglorious?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. Alice shrugged.

"That's Lily's vocabulary for you."

"She just hasn't come to terms with her passion for me." James raked his free hand through his hair again, causing it to stick up in all directions.

"Oh, there's Frank!" Alice said, swinging James's arm off her shoulder and taking off in Frank Longbottom's direction.

"Wow, I feel so valued." Sirius bellowed dryly after her. She just gave a backwards wave in their direction.

"She said my name." James said distantly, staring at the clear, blue sky.

"Alice?" Remus looked bemused.

"Lily." James amended. "She called me James. It was the first time that she said my first name since that prank in second year..."

"Which one?" Sirius smiled charmingly at a brunette Hufflepuff as they walked onto the grounds.

"When we tricked Snivellus into taking a babbling beverage."

"Oh." Sirius grinned, reminiscing. "That was a fun one."

The four of them swaggered into Greenhouse five like they owned it, expertly evading the line of potted Mandrakes and barrels of devil's snare. Well, Peter scuffled along rather awkwardly, and James' imposing demeanor was somewhat derailed when he knocked over a vase of honking daffodils, having been distracted by Lily.

She was chatting animatedly with Amelia Bones, a seventh year Ravenclaw, on the other side of the greenhouse. James couldn't help that his attention was diverted by her. He loved when she talked so vivaciously; her emerald eyes lit up like dancing green flames and he found the way she spoke with her hands just so bloody endearing.

"Oi, Prongs." Sirius waved a hand in front of James's face. He blinked and shook his head, tearing his eyes off of the beautiful red-head.

Professor Greenhorn strode in the greenhouse, pulling on dragon-hide gloves.

"All right, class." He addressed the seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. "As you all know, this year is NEWT year,"

"The most important year of your education that will determine the success of your future in the world of Magic." James and Sirius recited noisily, knowing Professor Greenhorn's speech by heart.

The Professor rolled his eyes in their direction, but he was far too used to the Marauders being disruptive to make a fuss about it. "Thank-you, Potter, Black." he sighed. "Now I trust you all have your dragon-hide gloves and protective eyewear..."

James only half-listened for the next ten minutes. He was staring avidly at Lily. He loved the way her hair caught the light and turned streaks of it to gold, and the way she attentively watched the professor as though education was the most important thing in the world. She was so clever, so attractive, witty and interesting. If only he could have her. Head girl, best in the class, easily the prettiest girl in all of seventh year... did he even have a chance? She was the one girl that made him feel small and insignificant, the one girl who wasn't impressed by his Quidditch fame or 'irresistible charm' or even his significant academic achievement.

Lily shot an irked glance at him when she caught him staring. He merely smiled and looked away after a long moment.

"Now I want you to pair up, so we can plant the Venemous Tentacula." Professor Greenhorn instructed, surveying his class through outdated spectacles. James and Sirius instinctively moved towards each-other at these words.

"I don't think so, boys." Professor Greenhorn said, not unaware of the two boys' inclinations.

"Mr. Black... go with Ms. Abbott," he ordered. Sirius grinned lazily at the pretty blonde Ravenclaw. "And Mr. Potter with... Ms. Evans." James quirked his eyebrows at Lily, who was looking away from him determinedly with a frown upon her pallid visage.

"Everyone else may pair up as they like; I don't believe any one else is able to create pandemonium like Mr. Black and Mr. Potter."

The class milled about for a moment, searching out partners before settling down at the table. James sauntered towards Lily, since she apparently wasn't moving.

"Guess it's your lucky day, Lilypad." he pulled out a chair for her at the table courteously, mentally slapping himself for sounding so pretentious. That was what she hated him for the most, but he couldn't help it. She just made him so nervous, cockiness was like an instilled defense mechanism.

She ignored him, and sat on the other side of the table. He shrugged inwardly and plopped down across from her.

"So what are we doing exactly?" James asked, trying not to stare at her too intensely.

"Planting these seeds." she indicated the small packet in front of her. "Don't you ever pay attention?" she frowned. "I have no idea how you get such good grades."

Wow. That was almost a compliment. Almost. "Who says I get good grades?" he asked, curious if she knew how many O's he'd received on his OWLs.

"If you didn't get exceptionally high grades, you would've been expelled by now." she said plainly, avoiding his eyes.

"That's probably true." He shrugged, reaching for the packet of seeds.

"Don't-" Lily cried as he tore it open thoughtlessly. Black, bean-sized pods shot out of the packet and flew in all different directions, but most of them landed on their robes.

"Gahh!" Lily shrieked as the seeds clung to them and started biting through their clothes. They both stood up and began shaking the seeds off of them, flailing their limbs wildly, Lily still shrieking and James cursing angrily.

"Evanesco." Professor Greenhorn pointed his wand at the pair of them, vanishing the seeds and tossing them a fresh bag down the table. They stopped thrashing about to see the entire class staring at them, some snickering or looking frightened for their sanity.

Lily glared at her partner ferociously.

"Thank-you Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans for demonstrating exactly what I instructed not to do." the professor drawled. "Five points from Gryffindor for not paying attention and for disrupting my class."

"You made me look bad." she hissed at James, rubbing her upper arm in pain as the rest of the class turned their attention back to planting.

"Here, have some of this." He pulled a small jar of yellowish goo out of his robes pocket. "Rub it on the bites, I think it will help." He handed her the jar, which she looked at apprehensively.

"It won't... make me break out in boils or something, will it?" she questioned distrustfully. "What is it?"

"Do you think I would do that to you, Lily?" James rolled his eyes at the glass ceiling. "It's diluted bubotuber pus."

"I do know what you did to Severus last week." she said, narrowing her eyes at him and accepting the jar.

Oh, how he adored those long, dark auburn eyelashes.

"Well that was Sniv- Snape." James shrugged. "And the boils only lasted three days." Lily opened her mouth to say something, but shut it quickly.

"Well, he probably deserved it." She muttered, opening the bubotuber pus cautiously and dabbing some onto her palm.

Lily's insulting Snape should've made James ecstatic (having hated him since first year), but the hint of sadness in her voice made him exactly the opposite. Anything that hurt Lily hurt him. It was just the way it was.

She pushed her hair back from her face and shed her robe, handing it to him. He held it for her graciously and tried not to sweep his eyes down her body. He failed entirely. She was wearing a simple outfit of flared jeans that hugged the curves of her legs rather well and a deep green long-sleeved shirt that revealed her shapely torso, usually covered by a school robe. She was nearly a foot shorter than James, no taller than five foot two, but she was utterly perfect in his eyes

"Are you going to just stand there and gape at me Potter?" she asked sternly, while rubbing the concoction onto her lightly freckled arms.

"Sorry." he said, quickly throwing her robe over his arm and pulling on his gloves. "And Lily?" he hesitated.

"Yes?"

"About... Snape. I wish I could make it better." He let his passion for her leak into his words. He thought she understood, because when she looked at him, startled, he could've sworn her vivid eyes glistened a little more than usual. "Now let's plant some seeds to grow a plant that everyone despises!" He grinned, faking immense enthusiasm.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed it! Pretty Potter please review. I'll know if you're reading, (handy story stats), but if you're not reviewing, I'll just assume you didn't like it, so if you did like it, please let me know. I never finish anything I start writing, but if I'm getting a lot of positive reviews I will keep this story up. Also, don't forget to follow! It's two in the morning right now, so I'm going to bed. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

** Enjoy! **

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><p>"Mooney, what in the blazes is the universal sign for 'vegetarian' vampires?" Sirius threw down his quill and rubbed his brow as though in physical pain.<p>

James, Remus, and Sirius were lounging around the fireplace in the Gryffidor common room, working on a particularly difficult D.A.D.A essay on the vampire community. Peter was upstairs writing a letter to his parents, having given up on the essay after realizing he knew nothing about the norms and rituals of vampires and would have to go to the library to research. James had offered to help him, but Peter pointed out that James didn't know anything about vampires' bathing habits either. The truth was that James knew very little about vampires in general. He distinctly remembered the lesson in D.A.D.A. about vampires, but what he remembered was losing Exploding Snap four consecutive times at the back of the classroom. Typically, James tried to pay attention in his classes, but really, vampires weren't nearly as interesting as muggles thought them to be.

"Padfoot, how will you ever learn if I just tell you?" Remus smiled at his mate's frustration.

"I did ninety-seven percent of this essay on my own, just tell me, Lupin!" Sirius cried hysterically.

"Who did the other three percent?" Remus asked curiously.

"Peter."

"Fine." he sighed, sliding his completed essay to Sirius.

"You're the greatest, Mooney." Sirius gave him a grateful grin.

"I'm not 'Lupin', anymore then?" Remus grinned back.

"Hello my dear boys." Alice interrupted Sirius's reply, Frank Longbottom by her side. Frank was a lengthy sort of bloke, tall and trim, with light brown hair and a serious demeanor. James knew he was exceptionally focused on his studies and aspired to be an Auror one day. When they had first come to Hogwarts together, James had tried to involve him in the Marauders' early day mischief, but he had never seemed interested in wreaking havoc. Frank was somewhat a quiet person, easy to live with, and thoughtful. James thought that he was most like Remus. "James, Professor McGonogall told me to tell you that Professor Dumbledore wants to see you." Alice raised her eyebrows at him suspiciously as she said this.

James stiffened."The Headmaster wants to see me? Why?" Had he done something? Relatively this term, in contrast to, say, third or fourth year, the Marauders had been pretty low-key, only pulling a few harmless pranks.

"That's just what I was told." Alice shrugged. "It sounded pretty serious, but McGonogall can make anything sound serious, so who knows." The headmaster was easily James's favorite adult at Hogwarts. Not only was he exceptionally talented, but quirky, slightly mad, but he rarely ever docked points from anyone unless they truly did something malicious.

"He wants to see me right now?" James asked disbelievingly.

Alice shrugged again.

"Well, I'd better go see." James stood up, nervously mussing his own hair.

"Good luck Prongsie." Sirius said to him with faux sobriety. "If you get expelled, I'll see at your place in June."

"Thanks for the support, mate." James punched Sirius in the arm. "See you guys in a bit."

"Maybe, maybe not." Sirius called absentmindedly after him.

James strode out of the portrait hole and headed to the third floor, where the Headmaster's tower entrance was located. He strolled through the corridors at a slow pace, absorbing his surroundings. He loved Hogwarts. It was like a second home to him, not just a school. He greatly enjoyed unraveling the mysteries of the castle. Something new seemed to pop up every day. A new hidden staircase, a new enchanted room... the castle was ever-changing and he loved every part of it. He thought of the Marauder's Map that he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had thought they'd finished last year. Merlin, had they been wrong. Already this term they had added multiple things to it, discovering in awe just how complicated the castle really was. James just hoped they could finish it before they left school. He would love to pass it down to his son or daughter one day. As he passed the familiar classrooms, broom cupboards, paintings, and relics, he thought about the fact that this was his last year at Hogwarts. It was really quite sad to think that he would probably never come back after next term. He would just have to make the best of this school year. James arrived at the ugly stone gargoyle he had stood in front of one too many times. He tried to flatten his hair apprehensively. Last time he'd been here in trouble was in sixth year, after he and Sirius had blown up Greenhouse three... but he'd just been here a couple of weeks ago, at the start of term, when the headmaster wanted to talk to him about being Quidditch captain. What had the password been? Ah, yes.

"Licorice wands ." James told the gargoyle, which sprung aside to let him pass. As James stepped onto the moving, winding staircase he thought nervously about what he could have possibly done to be called to the headmaster's office. When he reached the top, he knocked on the door politely.

"Who is it?" called the warm voice of the professor.

"James Potter, sir."

"Come in."

James opened the door. He had been in the headmaster's office many times, but it never ceased to amaze him. There was the brilliant red Pheonix, Fawkes, sitting on his perch, gazing with his head cocked at James intelligently; there was the incredible number of paintings, all portraits of previous headmasters; and a very large and odd collection of magical gadgets for who-knows-what.

"Alice told me you wished to see me, sir?"

"She was correct. How is your school year going so far?" the long-bearded headmaster asked politely, gesturing to a chair. James sat down across from him.

"Quite well, sir, thanks."

"You are probably wondering why I wished to speak to you." The headmaster peered at him over half-moon spectacles.  
>"Yes, I did wonder." James said truthfully. "Am I in trouble?"Dumbledore gave a soft chuckle.<p>

"No, my boy, quite the opposite, though I do not blame you for wondering so." His eyes twinkled when James grinned sheepishly. "I wished to offer you... a position."

"What kind of a position are we talking about, sir?" James asked curiously.

"How would you feel about being head boy?"

There was a pregnant pause.

James said something that sounded strangely like "Garboglooko."

"Pardon?" Professor Dumbledore cast him a slightly concerned glance.

"Er," he replied. Head boy? Was Dumbledore being serious? "I'm not sure, Professor. May I ask you why you would offer that position to me? And why now? And what about Daniel Smith?" he asked, referring to the blonde Hufflepuff who currently occupied the head boy position.

"In the past years, I have chosen head boy and girl, mostly based on appearances." The headmaster said, his eyes scrutinizing James with incredible awareness. "High grades, clean record, steady contribution to their house and to the school. This year, I did the same, but I seem to have made a mistake in choosing Mr. Smith." Dumbledore grimaced, his gray eyebrows joining together to form a worried line.

This honestly did not surprise James, who had never liked Daniel Smith since second year when he had been unjustly jinxed by the bloke.

"Mr. Smith was suspended earlier today from the school for taking part in illegal activities including Felix Felicis, Veritaserum, and the Imperius curse." James recognized the strictly regulated potions immediately, and he had, of course learned about the Imperious curse in D.A.D.A. as well as heard about it on the Wizarding radio networks and in the Daily Prophet. James raised his eyebrows.

"Merlin." he said. He wasn't exactly flabbergasted about the potions, (he and the Marauders had used those on more than one occasion outside of the Potions dungeons) but the Imperius curse? Didn't Smith know he could go to Azkaban for that?

"So I wanted to appoint a new head boy, not just based on appearances, but someone I know who truly cares about the student body and will do his duty because he loves this castle." His looked at James keenly. James had a very strange feeling that he was looking right through him.

"Why me, though?" James was still mystified.

"Well I believe in your character, James." Dumbledore's light blue eyes twinkled. "I am not unaware of what you did on the first day of term last year." James racked his brains, trying to think of what he could have done.

"Ms. Tonks." the headmaster reminded him. Nymphadora was a wild little second year with a fiery ever-changing appearance and an attitude to match, also the Gryffindor Quidditch team's seeker. "When she was attacked by Peeves on her arrival to the Sorting Ceremony, the student body was heartily amused, but you, James," Dumbledore smiled kindheartedly at him. "You saw that she was in discomfort, and went to her aide immediately."

"She was being pelted with ink wells!" James exclaimed. "Of course I helped her; she could've gotten seriously hurt!"

"And that, James," the graying professor leaned forward slightly, "is why I am offering you this post."

"Because I did one nice thing?" James asked skeptically.

"Not only that, my boy. Also, sadly, because I know who your adversaries are in this school." James's thoughts immediately went to Snape, Mulciber, Avery, Lestrange, and Bellatrix Black. "To my great displeasure, your oppositions are also mine." Dumbledore said quietly, his wise face filled with sorrow. James knew it must've aggrieved the tender headmaster to be against his students. "Dark times are upon us." Dumbledore rose from his desk, paced to the wall, and gazed out the window. "I need people I can trust in. I trust you, James." he said mildly, his eyes distant.

"What about Remus?" James asked fairly. "He's someone you can trust, and he has a well, not a clean record, but a clean_er_ record than I do. "

"The heads have duties that would be difficult to complete with his condition." James nodded as rage swelled in his chest, as it always did when Remus's condition prevented him from living life to the fullest. It just wasn't fair. James hated whoever bit Remus with a burning passion. He struggled to keep his face appear normal as Dumbledore continued, "I have spoken to Remus about this, and he understands." James nodded, showing comprehension. "So, James. Will you accept?" Dumbledore looked at him mildly. James thought for a long moment, and decided: why not?

"Yes, sir," he replied. "I would be honored."

"I'm glad." Dumbledore smiled, and handed James a roll of parchment. "This parchment lists your duties, instructions, and privileges as head boy." his eyes twinkled. "If they clash with you Quidditch captaincy, please come see me. "And," he handed James a badge with the Hogwart's crest on it and a large HB in the center."your badge." James grinned and pinned the badge onto the front of his robes, then accepted the roll of parchment.

"Also, one more thing." James cocked his head as the headmaster added,"You will be sharing a dorm area and private common room with Ms. Evans."

James worked to not let his jaw drop to the floor, but could help the ruddiness that rose to his cheeks.

"This is for the convenience of the heads, seeing as they must work together frequently, and are often in different houses." The professor smiled at him knowingly.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, Professor, but if Lily-"

"Has any problems with my new appointment, she may come see me." Dumbledore completed James's sentence for him.

"I won't disappoint you, sir." James recovered.

"I don't doubt you."

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><p><strong>Any reviews would be lovely and greatly appreciated!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry my chapters have been so short, but they will be getting longer as time goes on. I really hope you've liked the story so far, I have certainly enjoyed writing it. Happy reading!**

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><p>James nearly skipped back to the Gryffindor common room, feeling as though he could sing. Sharing a dorm with Lily! It was a dream come true, quite literally.<p>

"Animagus." He told the Fat Lady, so that she swung open to allow him in. Sirius and Remus were still sitting by the fire, now playing wizard's chess. Only two fourth year girls remained in the common room. One of the girls glanced over at Sirius and Remus so often that she appeared to have a twitch.

"What did Dumbledore want?" Remus asked James, who had sunk into one of the armchairs.

"To make me head boy." James replied conversationally.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, but Remus looked at him and blinked several times. He looked at James's badge and blinked some more.

"No way!" He cried, excitement filling his scarred visage. "You're head boy?"

"Yup." James popped the "p" and gave his friends a wide grin. Sirius looked as though a herd of centaurs had just stormed through the common room.

"Why?" Sirius finally managed to ask incredulously.

"I guess Daniel Smith wasn't really cut out for the job." James shrugged.

"Congratulations mate!" Sirius grinned at James after staring at him for a long moment. "I always did say that Dumbledore was off his rocker..."

"Thanks..." James ran a hand through his hair in mild disbelief. "But there's something else."

"What?" Remus and Sirius asked simultaneously. James jumped up from his chair and sang in a very obnoxious voice,

"I GET TO SHARE A ROOM WITH LILY EVANS!" The girls across the room stared avidly at James and then turned to each-other to discuss this new development.

"_WHAAAT_?" Sirius cried, ogling at James, who was currently skipping around them in circles.

"Well, dorms." James stopped skipping and plopped down on his chair again. "And a common room..."

"Oh?" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Hmm."

"Padfoot!" James punched him in the arm. "I'm going to pack, then I'm heading over to my new dorm." _To Lily Evans._

"That means you're leaving our dorm, then?" Remus asked, his face falling slightly.

"Yeah," James furrowed his brow, "but I'll come hassle you every day, Marauder's oath."

"Can I have your drawers, then?" Sirius asked, putting on a much practiced puppy-dog face.

"You guys can figure that out when I leave." James rolled his eyes and sprung out of his chair. "I'll be packing!" He raced up the stairs and into the seventh year boy's dormitory, where Peter and Frank were sleeping. Peter's wheezing snores was the only sound in the dorm.

"_Pack my possessions_!" He whispered, waving his wand over their dorm. His clothes, pictures, and toiletries flew out, not only from his part of the room and bathroom, but from some very odd places, like a sock from under Peter's pillow, and a quill from Sirius's underwear drawer. All of his possessions landed neatly in his trunk, which shut itself quietly.

"Goodbye dorm." he smiled fondly at his room of the past six years. "And_ hello_ Lily."

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><p>James tucked Dumbledore's instructions into his robes, having memorized where the head dorms were. He trouped down to the fifth floor, struggling slightly with his heavy trunk. Any other student probably would have just levitated it, but James liked Muggle work. It was invigorating, and with all the amazing meals here at Hogwarts, he had to stay in shape somehow. He walked past the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, the prefect's bathroom, the corridor of Boris the Bewildered and found what he was looking for. "Aha." he said softly, looking at a large painting of Hogwarts itself. He admired it for a moment, appreciating the beauty of it. Like all artwork in the castle, it was magical, so he could see minuscule students milling about on the lawn, and the puffy white clouds blowing around the highest towers in the azure sky. He stepped forward and tapped on the front door of the castle with his wand, as his parchment had instructed. The tiny door swung open, then expanded rapidly so that he could climb through. Once he and his trunk were completely through, he had a good look around his new common room. It was similar to the Gryffindor common room, but much smaller, and was decorated with all the school colors, not just gold and red. There was a cushy looking sofa in the center of the room, with an armchair on each side of it. Lily was curled up in a ball in one of them in front of the fireplace, wearing white sweats and a t-shirt. She was so absorbed in the book she was reading; she didn't even notice James come in.<br>How was she so gorgeous? Maybe she took a prettifying potion every morning, though James wasn't sure there was such a thing. He cleared his throat to make his presence known. Lily's head turned so quickly, he could've sworn he heard her neck crack.

"Bloody hell, Potter!" she cried, dropping her book in surprise. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, just thought I'd drop in and say hello." James said with an air of nonchalance.

Her eyebrows knitted together in the center of her forehead and she stared at him incredulously.

"I'm just kidding." He said after a moment of tense silence.

"So what in the name of Merlin are you doing in my dorm?"

"Well..." James said nervously.

Her eyes trailed down to his shining badge and his luggage.

"_No_." she looked at him in shock. "No, no-not you."

James set down his trunk and strode across the room towards her, sweeping up her book and glancing at the book she was reading. Hogwarts, A History. Of course. James knew it was her favorite book, seeing as she had read it at least once every term since first year.

"You- this is a joke, isn't it?" she sputtered. "One of your stupid pranks?"

"Er, no." Her expression became frightening. "I'm sorry, Lily. I - I swear I didn't ask for this." James took a step back.

"Are you _serious_?" she screeched, standing up, and grabbing her book out of his hand.

"No, I'm James. Sirius is the one with long hair..." he joked weakly. She glared at him.

"I'm so sick of those 'Sirius' puns, Potter."

"Yeah, me too." he sighed, falling onto the couch.

"Why?" she asked vaguely, sitting down and putting her head in her hands. "Smith, now you..." she grumbled, rubbing her temples. "Does Dumbledore _want_ me to go mad?"

"I have to be better than Smith." James said lightly, trying to alleviate the mood. "I mean, the guy was a real prat."

"Well, that's true." She looked up from her hands, a strange expression on her face. "But still." she raised an eyebrow at him. "Why _you_?I mean, even you have to admit you are not a prime candidate for Head Boy."

"You're telling me!" He exclaimed.

She just shook her head. "I really can't believe this."

"Sorry." he apologized again meekly. "Dumbledore said if you have a problem with this you can speak to him about it..."

"Well in that case," she said briskly, standing up again, "we'd better make this work then. Come on, I'll show you around."

"I'm impressed, Lilypad." James was startled by her sudden change it attitude. "I thought you were going to do a bat-bogey hex on me."

"I haven't ruled it out." She looked at him darkly. "But really, I have to trust Dumbledore's judgment of people." she said stoutly. "If I can't trust him, I can't trust anyone." James stared at her for a moment.

"Does this mean we're friends?" he asked hopefully. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let's make a deal." she said, speculating his head boy badge, as though making sure it was real. "You don't ask me out, you don't flirt with me, you don't publicly humiliate me in front of the entire school body, and I'll do my best to be... civil." James made a face.

"Deal," he sighed. He figured that was the best he was going to get as of now. She smiled brightly, revealing a set of white teeth that James rarely ever had directed at him. His stomach jumped inside of him slightly.

"I'll show you your room."

James stood up from the sofa and followed her up the winding staircase. At the top there was just a simple hallway with three doors. "This is the bathroom." Lily opened the first door on the right and walked in.

"Bloody hell." James's eyes widened as he took in his surroundings. There was an ornate double sink in front of a wall-sized mirror, a large cabinet in the corner, which James supposed was for toiletries and the like, and an in-ground tub the size of a swimming pool. "If you want to shower," Lily pushed a button on the wall and water started pouring out from the ceiling above the tub like heavy rain. "just press that."

"This is a whole lot better than my old bathroom." James grinned.

"I know." Lily nodded in agreement. "Same here. Sharing a bathroom with several teenage girls was a living hell."

"Er. Lily, where-"

"You have a loo off your own room." She told him mildly.

"Oh, good."

"And your room," she led James out of the bathroom and down the hall. "is right here." She swung the door open to reveal a homey-looking bedroom, just one four-poster, a wardrobe and bookshelf, plus the door on the far side of the room that James assumed was his private bathroom.

"Great." He said, excited.

"Well, I'm heading off to bed." Lily said sounding slightly awkward. She started walking out, but paused and turned to face her new dorm-mate.

"Potter?"

"Yes?"

"There is an old charm on my room, set by the founders themselves. If any male tries to enter unbeknownst to its occupant, you will find yourself in excruciating pain."

"How do you know that?" James asked, somewhat fearful.

"Let's just say Smith learned to respect my privacy after he burst in there the first time uninvited." She smiled somewhat devilishly

"Goodnight Lily." James said, smirking slightly at the thought of Daniel Smith's comeuppance.

"Goodnight... James." She turned and strode down the hall.

* * *

><p><strong>As usual, I would love to hear what you think! I genuinely value your opinions!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days staying with Lily were like heaven for James. Just having the pleasure of coming back from classes and knowing that she would be there made every day that much better. Even just seeing her sparkling green eyes every day up close and personal put him into a place of deep content. He loved watching her out of the corner of his eye when they studied by the fireplace, and he immensely enjoyed listening to her sing in the shower when she thought he was already at breakfast. She had a beautiful voice, but sometimes she belted out the words somewhat obnoxiously, which caused James to laugh silently outside the door.

Surprisingly, living in the same dorms was fairly easy. James kept all of paraphernalia in his bedroom, Lily's in hers. They worked out an unspoken schedule that James would shower first, because he often had morning Quidditch practices and returned before Lily even woke, and since they both took no more than twenty minutes to get ready in the morning, there was virtually no stress involving shouting at the door to get the shower.

One early Saturday morning James forced his eyes opened sleepily and looked at his clock, which read 5:30 AM.

"The team's going to hate me." James muttered to himself, rolling out of bed and throwing on his Quidditch robes. He pocketed his wand, left his room, and jogged down the stairs, making his way towards Gryffindor tower to get his teammates. Some may call him crazy, but he loved this aspect of Quidditch: grueling early morning practices that lasted until someone passed out for lack of food, and the angry groans of his team as he made them do exercise after exercise. He reached the Fat Lady while thinking of what kind of conditioning they could do today.

"Animagus." He told the Fat Lady who was glaring at him through groggy eyes. James found the password extremely ironic, seeing that there were four illegal animagi in Gryffidor tower, counting himself. James sprinted up the stairs and entered his old dorm. He went to Sirius's bedside and pointed his wand at his best mate's tanned forehead. "Ennervate." James whispered. Usually the spell was used to revive a person who had been stupified, but Sirius slept so deeply that it was equally effective. His best mate woke with a start and scowled at James's eager face.

"Are you bloody kidding me, Potter?"

"Nope. Come on." He hissed, not wanting to wake Peter, Remus, or Frank.

"You're mad, James Potter." Sirius mumbled, rolling out of bed with a rather loud thump that caused Peter to grunt sleepily. "Absolutely batty."

"If you're not there in ten minutes I'll hex you into oblivion." James promised him, leaving the room to Sirius's muttered curses.

He went into the sixth year dorms and woke up his two beaters, Benjy Fenwick and Fabian Prewett, absolute naturals on the pitch that worked well together. After he'd told them to get their arses onto the pitch, he found the dilemma of waking up his three remaining players: girls. He knew all too well that trying to get up the girl's common room staircase would be unsuccessful. He thought hard for a moment as the male members of the team trouped wearily out of the common room. James put his hand in his pocket, rummaging for...

"Aha!" he said to himself, pleased, popping a Honeydukes sherbert ball in his mouth. Once he was wafting along, about a foot off the carpet, he pulled out his wand and concentrating, cried "Wingardium properllus!" Wind whooshed out of his wand, sending him backwards up the stairs without actually touching them. Feeling somewhat pleased with himself, he spat the sherbert ball into a rubbish bin out when he got to the top, but the after-affects caused him to float a couple inches off the floor. He struggled down the hallway, pulling himself along the wall. He propelled himself into the seventh year dorms with some difficulty, and hissed, "Emmeline?" into the darkness.

Three girls screamed with a start and one actually fell out of bed. James figured he must've looked slightly frightening; a tall, robed male levitating in the darkness.

"Sorry!" James whispered loudly.

"James?" he recognized the voice of his chaser, Emmeline Vance.

"Oh, hey, Emmeline." James said nonchalantly. "Be on the pitch in five, and tell Marlene and Tonks, okay?"

"What time-? Oh, whatever." she huffed as James floated creepily from the dorm.

A fair twenty minutes later, the whole team stood on the frosty grounds of the pitch in the darkness, yawning and shivering violently. Sirius seemed to be nodding off against his broom.

"You guys cold?" James asked kindly. Marlene McKinnon, their Keeper, nodded vigorously. "Well, then, let's warm up!" they all groaned. "FIVE LAPS AROUND THE PITCH!" James bellowed, getting into his captain attitude. "AND I DO NOT MEAN FLYING LAPS!" He took off into a quick jog and made sure everyone was following, dropping his robes to reveal gray sweats and a black hoodie. He started with a pace that Tonks, their youngest player, could keep up with. "WHO'S THE BEST QUIDDITCH TEAM HERE?" James bellowed back to his team.

"Us." replied his teammates dully, their voices weak with sleepiness.

"No, you know what?" James turned and started jogging backwards so he could face his players. "I think Slytherin might be able to win this year."

"What? no!" little pink haired Tonks protested. "They can't win!"

"You heard her!" James shouted. "We can't lose, and we WON'T! Why won't we lose, Benjy?"

"Because," the broad boy answered firmly. "We certainly train the hardest." the team answered with grunts of agreement.

"We're the strongest!" Fabian stated, flexing his brawny arms into a masculine pose as he ran, kicking his heels up ridiculously. The team laughed.

"We'll have the most clever, daring techniques!" Emmeline said enthusiastically.

"We have the best Keeper in all of Scotland!" Marlene fanned herself in fake snobbishness.

"We will whoop Slytherin's arses!" Sirius declared, finally waking up a bit.

"That's right!" James said, glad his team was getting in the spirit. "Now let's run!" He turned around and lengthened his stride, enjoying the fresh air pumping into his lungs. They ran, and ran. James could hear the pants of the team behind him as they struggled to keep up with his long strides. James's heart was pounding in his chest and his legs were screaming in protest by the third lap. Despite their exhaustion, he made his team run the fourth lap with their knees up, and on the fifth lap he made them sprint till the end. When everyone had finished, they all collapsed onto the grass, chests heaving. James allowed them a few minutes of rest, before springing up off the grass again. Those laps were no joke, probably close to a kilometer each...

"Off your backs, you bums!" He grinned evilly. "Fifty push-ups!" And no girly ones!" He glared at the girls as though daring them to argue. But they all did it, Tonks actually finishing first, having only about eighty-five pounds of weight to push up and down, in contrast to his beaters, who weighed almost a hundred pounds more than her.

"Now get your brooms!" James ordered a half hour later, panting slightly after leading his team in a hundred crunches. They all groaned loudly, knowing practice wasn't nearly over yet. James jogged to the school broomshed and fetched his Nimbus 1500, a coming of age present from his parents. He loved his Nimbus dearly, it being the newest and fasted broom on the market. He grabbed the old set of balls that they used for practices and headed back to the pitch. The snitch from their set was slightly slow, from being caught too many times, and the bludgers often aimed to maim the goal hoops instead of people, but otherwise they could play without a problem.

"On my count." called James, once everyone had their brooms and the balls had been released. "Three, two, one!" They rose into the air together, James looping the other players to find Emmeline, who had started out with the Quaffle. She tossed it to him unexpectedly, so that he had to swerve around Fabian to snag it with his fingertips.

"Sorry, James!" Emmeline called apologetically.

"It's all right, just try and wait for eye contact before throwing, okay?"

"Okay!" she shouted as James smoothly passed it to Sirius, who scored through the left hoop. The chasers played like this for a while, then took turns pretending to be big, ugly Slytherin opponents in order to test blocking techniques. Fabian and Benjy practiced hitting bludgers accurately through the goal hoops at the other end of the pitch, and Tonks caught the snitch at least six times.

James caught the vivacious seeker in midair. "Tonks, remember that Relugus Black is bigger than you, so he may have more speed. But if he's tailing you, use your size to your advantage and lose him through the other players, okay?"

Tonks grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

James worked with his the beaters, instructing them to aim at him as he zoomed around the pitch. He got hit with a couple bludgers in the process, but he was satisfied with their accuracy and told them to keep it up.

"Tonks!" James called across the pitch, "Lemme see a Wronskei Feint!"

The pale, heart shaped face put on an expression of utmost concentration. She took a steep dive, plummeting towards the ground. James cringed as she pulled it up at the very last possible fraction of a second, and clapped wildly as she sped upwards again.

"Blimey! That was incredible!" He grinned at her widely in approval.

"Thanks James!" she called, speeding past him after the snitch. James stopped in midair and looked around at his team. This year's team was easily the best out of James's past years of playing. Maybe they could actually win the cup this time around. As the sun starting peaking over the horizon in numerous shades of pink and purple, James saw a figure sitting in the stands, but couldn't tell who it was, as he was slightly nearsighted. He flew over to where Emmeline and Sirius were attempting to score on Marlene, with some difficulty. She was making some spectacular saves.

"Marlene, watch their eyes, okay?" she nodded seriously in agreement. "Okay, chasers," James beamed at them, "ready for some maneuvers?"

They grinned at him in return. This was their favorite part of practice. "Marlene, you ready?" James asked the keeper.

"Ready as I'll ever be to face three of the most talented chasers Hogwarts has ever seen!" she said apprehensively.

"All right." James faced his chasers. "Let's confuse that commentator!

They shot off together down the pitch, Sirius holding the Quaffle, but in the blink of an eye, James was cradling it as he dropped below Sirius, then passed it up to Emmeline who returned it to Sirius, all of this done blindingly fast. They then turned back towards their goalposts in a synchronized fashion and grouped together so that they appeared to be a blur of red, flashing across the sky. They individually corkscrewed inside the formation, rotating positions as fast as possible. Sirius passed the Quaffle discreetly to James before they split the formation, the three of them spinning off in different directions, Emmeline flying towards the middle hoop, Sirius to the left, and James to the right. The point of the entire maneuver was to make the opposing team think that Sirius still had the Quaffle, when in actuality it had been passed to James in the confusion of their maneuver. Then the other team's chasers keeper would go for Sirius while James...

"SCORE!" he announced triumphantly as Marlene fell for Sirius's feint of scoring on the left, while James chucked it through the right hoop.

James high-fived his chasers enthusiastically as they whizzed past each-other in the air. "Good work!" he congratulated them. "Sirius, you might want to pass the Quaffle to me a tad bit earlier, so I can shield it from the other team's view, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Prongsie." Sirius saluted him pompously. They practiced several more complicated chaser techniques, each time working together like a well-oiled machine. After another hour of this, James whistled and motioned to the ground. Everyone landed unsteadily, weary and starving.

"Amazing job, today, everybody." James nodded at his team. "Tonks, work on that pin turn and you'll be perfect, Benjy, Fabian, make sure you keep an eye on Connor Higgs when we play Slytherin, he fights dirty.

"Don't they all?" Marlene wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Yes." James replied firmly. "So be on the height of your game. Lots of sleep this week, eat plenty of protein, got it?" They nodded in agreement. "I'll see you on Monday at 4:30."

"In the morning?" Tonks looked anxiously at her captain. James laughed, but realized that the rest of the team was wondering the same thing.

"No, no, in the afternoon." he said reassuringly.

They all gave a sigh of relief before heading to the changing room. They showered and changed, feeling pleased with the results of practice. James looked around the picturesque pitch as he left the changing room. The sun was fully up now, giving life to the crisp grounds, turning the red and orange leaves of autumn to gold. He smiled. As he was about to head to the Great Hall for breakfast, he saw that the figure was still up in the stands. He could see better now that the sun was up; was that red hair shimmering in the sun? Lily? He mounted his broom again and soared towards the girl. It was Lily! He dismounted smoothly, a row in front of her.

"Hey, Po- James." she nodded in acknowledgement.

"What are you doing, Lily?" James asked, bemused. She had been sitting out here for an hour, at the least. "I was eating breakfast." she shrugged, indicating the plate next to her.

"I see." He mused.

"Apple?" she offered, picking up the remaining fruit from her plate.

"Sure, thanks." James smiled and snagged the fruit from midair. He bit into the apple and took a seat.

"You didn't poison this or anything, did you?" James asked, munching quietly. Lily gave a soft laugh.

"This isn't Snow White, James." He furrowed his brow in confusion. What in the blazes was she talking about?

"Never mind." Lily laughed again at his expression. "Muggle thing. You wouldn't get it, I forgot your'e pureblood."  
>Something about her tone of voice seemed judgmental. Like it was a bad thing he was pureblood.<p>

"You know I don't care about blood status, right?" He asked, frowning at her.

"Yeah. I know." she said casually. But James knew she was uncomfortable. She always tucked her hair behind her ear like that when she was uncomfortable.

"Do you play?" James asked her after a lengthy moment of silence, the only noise being James's crunching of the apple.

"No." Lily replied absentmindedly. "I know how, you know, flying lessons in first year, but I don't have a broom and I don't think I'm skilled enough to be on the team." James looked at her with his mouth open.

"You've only ever ridden a school broom?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, so?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Come on." He said, dropping his apple core through the bleachers, and picking up his broom. "You have to try this. You'd be amazed at what this broom can do."

"I do not have to do anything or go anywhere with you!" Lily frowned stubbornly.

"Lily." He gave her a stern look. "I promise, this is ten times better than any old shooting star the school will give you." She glanced at his broom apprehensively.

"It looks... dangerous."

"It might be dangerous if you were riding by yourself, but you know I won't let you get hurt." He promised. She looked at him doubtfully.

"Fine." he sighed dramatically. "I should've known that the teacher's pet would never be daring enough..." Lily looked outraged. "I am not a teacher's pet!" she declared.

"Whatever." James shrugged cooly. "I'll see you later, Evans." She stood up, cheeks flaming. "Fine, just show me what the bloody broom does." James grinned and let her climb on behind him. Lily tried to warn him,  
>"Don't go too fas-" but James took of at the speed of light. He was a bit concerned for the first few moments of flight when Lily didn't make a peep, but was reassured when he felt her arms squeeze his midsection tightly. He raced upwards, directly into the sky. The wind whipped his hair back from his face, fresh, cool, and invigorating.<p>

"Bloody hell, bloody hell, bloody hell!" Lily shouted behind him as he pushed the broom faster, clinging to him as though her life depended on it. Which it actually did. He flew higher and higher, corkscrewing and looping a few times, causing Lily to shout at him angrily that she was going to puke. When they reached the fluffy white clouds, James leveled the broom so that they were soaring through the gaps of blue sky, thinking Lily wouldn't appreciate it if he soaked her by flying through a cloud. He slowed down so they were flying leisurely along, the Black Lake sparkling in the sunlight far below them, like a big, black marble. The sloping grounds appeared so vibrant from this view, the green grass and autumn trees joining together to show a myriad of natural, beautiful colors. They were so far up, the students on the ground looked like dustmites. He chuckled as he thought of what they must look like to the people below, perhaps an odd bird of some sort? A speck of color in the clouds?

"How's this? James smirked at Lily over his shoulder.

"James Potter!" she screeched. "This is horrifying!" but her wide emerald eyes were staring at the ground, thousands of feet below in awe and wonder. James flew around the perimeter of the castle, pointing out various features of it like a tour guide.

"And here we have Gryffindor tower, where all the best and most courageous students stay." He said pompously. "Bet you never thought you'd see it from the outside, did you?"

Lily gave a small, nervous laugh. "No, I really didn't."

"There's the astronomy tower, though I'm sure you recognize that."

"Oh, yes. Lots of anxious test-taking went on up there." she said fervently

James laughed. "You? Nervous about a test? I thought you knew everything!"

"Oh, please." James could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "I'm really not that academically focused. I got a T on my Divination OWL."

"What!?" James exclaimed in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yep." she replied matter-of-factly. "I hated Divination so much."

James laughed, "I don't even know how you can get a T in Divination - all you have to do is make up a load of rubbish about the future! And they can't even really tell how you did because they don't know if your predictions came true yet."

"I'm terrible at making things up on the spot." Lily admitted.

"Apparently so." James shook his head.

They flew in silence for a few moments, admiring the sun rise around the castle.

"The castle looks so... magnificent." Lily breathed into his shoulder. James couldn't have found a better word to describe it. Regal, perhaps, magical, or... home, to him. Lily eventually loosened her death grip on him, but kept her arms wrapped securely around his waist. It felt unbelievably right, having her there, right with him, her hair occasionally tickling his cheek, which caused his stomach to jerk around in his abdomen. He could feel her warm, soft body conforming to his, small and comforting.

James grinned into the sun. This was the best day of his life.

"Are you ready to go down?" he asked politely.

"I suppose so." Lily said, resting her cheek on his shoulder blade. James would have stayed up there all day if it he could.

"Hold on." he advised her. Once he felt her arms tighten, he shot straight up a few hundred more feet through a gap of blue sky, so that they drifted on the top of the clouds. "I thought we were going down..." Lily said uncertainly.

"We are." James couldn't help but whoop loudly as he let the broom drop, plummeting to the ground. Lily gave a piercing scream, and buried her head into the back of his hoodie. James stomach leapt inside of him as they gathered speed, the ground coming towards them at a terrifying rate. They were going so fast, James could feel the little extra skin he had on his face being pressed backwards. He laughed aloud wildly, thinking of what they must look like. Lily peeked over his shoulder and screamed in alarm as James executed an impeccable Wronskei Feint, inches from the grass.

"Bloody hell James! Are you suicidal?" she gasped as he leveled the broom again, brushing his toes against the lush grass.

"No." he shrugged as he landed smoothly on the Quidditch pitch. Lily immediately let go of him, and stumbled off the broom.

"Woah," James said, catching her easily with one arm. "you all right?"

"A little woozy." she admitted. He slung his broom over one shoulder and walked with Lily back toward the castle.

"So did you enjoy your flight?" he asked, concerned that he had scared her a little too much.

"All except the part where you tried to kill us." But she smiled, so James knew he was forgiven. "What was that anyways?" she asked.

"What, the Wronskei Feint?"

"Yes, that." Lily said, then sounding like she was struggling, "It was... very impressive." James gave a throaty chuckle.

"I appreciate the effort you put behind that compliment."

"You're keeping your side of the bargain." Lily said fairly. "I'll keep mine." James tried not to be offended by the fact that she was only being nice to him because they had made a deal.

"And yes, it was amazing." she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. James beamed at her. "I never knew you could see Hogwarts like that before."

"It is incredible, isn't it?" James asked as they entered the castle. They walked in comfortable silence to the Great Hall, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Well, I'm going to eat breakfast." James broke the silence when they got to the entrance hall.

"And I'm going to-"

"Study?" James grinned.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and headed upstairs. She paused at the top of the steps and turned around.

"And James," she said meekly.

"Yes?"

She blushed. "Thank-you."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry if it mortally offends anyone that I put Tonks in Gryffindor; I wasn't able to find any straight answers about what house she was in! And I would really love it if you took twenty seconds to post a review!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**And yet again, this sadly does not belong to me. This chapter I have switched to Lily's point of view, so I hope you like it! Please review!**

Chapter 5

"Alright," Lily said briskly, "this is officially our first meeting as head boy and girl." James was sprawled out on the floor, laying on his back in front of the fireplace and Lily was sitting cross-legged in her favorite armchair.  
>"So what do we do?" James yawned, folding his hands behind his head, his shirt slipping up his stomach. Lily's stomach gave a strange jolt inside of her as she caught a glimpse of the V shaped muscles that made up his hip flexors and lower abdominals. She tore her eyes away from his stomach, thinking that she really needed to get over her weakness for abs.<br>"Well since I've been head girl for a month longer than you, I think I've got a pretty good handle on things already." she said reasonably, tossing a sheet of red hair over her shoulder.  
>"Of course you do." James rolled his eyes.<br>Lily plowed on as though she hadn't heard him.  
>"Firstly, we have to patrol the cooridors once every nine days. The other eight days are taken by the prefects."<br>"Easy enough." James remarked. "You have the dates we're scheduled for?" He asked, his hazel eyes twinkling at the word "date." "I'll have to schedule Quidditch practices around it."  
>"Here." She tossed him a piece of parchment. "Copy those down. You will meet me here every night we have to patrol, and you will not be late, got it?" Lily demanded.<br>"But this one's on the full moon!" James exclaimed, looking at their schedule. Lily understood his angst immediately.  
>"James," she said placatingly. "Sirius and Peter will be there for Remus. He'll be okay." He looked at her, his brow furrowed.<br>"I suppose."  
>"Anyways, there's only much you can do for him during the transformation. I mean, you obviously can't actually be around him when he's, you know, transformed." James's expression was conflicting.<br>"Er, yeah, I guess you're right." he said finally, handing her back their schedule. "What else?"

"We have to organize meetings with the prefects, and we have to plan a ball for December..." Lily looked down at her parchment.  
>"A ball?" James sputtered. "We never have dances!"<br>"It's for seventh years only, James. There's one every year."  
>"Oh." James mussed his hair. "I didn't know."<br>"Obviously." Lily said dryly. "But I'd say we don't have to start working on that 'till about a month before Christmas."  
>"Good, after the first match of the season, then." James sighed in relief.<br>"Why do you love Quidditch so much?" Lily asked him, shuffling absentmindedly through her parchment.  
>"I don't know." James stared up at the ceiling in thought. "It was always something that me and my Dad did together, ever since I could get on a broom." He paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. "When I fly, I'm free. I'm back in my sunny back yard with my dad, and I don't have a care in the world." Lily found herself staring at him attentively. "When I fly, no one can contain me or control me. I'm invincible, I'm liberated... I'm... happy." he smiled at the ceiling. "Flying, to me, is like reading, to you." Their eyes met, hazel to green. "It takes me to another world." James finished his explanation softly.<br>"Oh." Lily said. She didn't know that James Potter, star chaser, most popular boy in the school, incredibly handsome now head boy, who got almost better grades than she did, could be so... deep.  
>And how did he know that? That reading did for her what flying did for him? Sometimes she felt as though how much he knew about her was strange. Somehow, he just knew.<br>"So what else do we have to do?" James asked Lily, not noticing that she was gazing at him with something other than irritation for once in her life.  
>Lily returned her eyes to the parchment. "Uh... we have to notify the house elves of any irregular upcoming events that will need food to be supplied... banquets, the ball, and things like that."<br>"Oh, okay." James yawned again.  
>"Doesn't it seem unfair?" Lily asked vaguely, staring it to the fireplace.<br>"Er." James replied wisely.  
>"The whole house elf thing" Lily explained. "They're never mentioned in Hogwarts, a History, but they make every meal for every student... they clean, the cook, and I didn't even know there were a hundred elves at Hogwarts until fifth year! And they've been treated so unfairly by wizards!"<br>"Merlin, Lily." James sat up with a start. "Haven't you even ever been to the kitchens?"  
>"No," Lily replied, raising an auburn eyebrow. "I didn't even know students have access to the kitchens."<br>"Well..." James scratched his head innocently. "I don't think students are exactly supposed to go in there, but the house elves absolutely love having visitors." James sprung up from the floor at an alarmingly fast rate. "Come on, I'll show you."  
>"But if students aren't allowed-" Lily furrowed her brow.<br>"Lily, we're head boy and girl." James said, making it sound as though they ruled all of Scotland. "We probably have the most freedom out of any student here."  
>"If we get caught, I'm blaming you." Lily warned him, setting down her pile of parchment.<br>"Fair enough." James shrugged as Lily unfolded her legs and rose to her feet.  
>"It's already midnight?" She exclaimed, looking at the common room clock. "Maybe we can go tomorrow..."<br>"Oh come off it, Lily." James grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the portrait hole. Lily couldn't help but notice how masculine his hand felt around hers. Large, warm, and slightly calloused from Quidditch, she felt a comforting sense of safety envelop her at the contact.  
>When he casually released her hand a moment later, she felt the sense of inexplicable comfort vanish, but just being by his side made her feel safe. She thought it must be the fact that he was at least twice her size and would protect her at any cost.<br>"I love our location." James said randomly. "I mean, the room of requirement is just two floors above, there's a secret passageway and the library right below us-"  
>"You know about the room of requirement?" Lily asked James, surprised. She had thought only a few students knew about it.<br>"Of course." James said smoothly. "We have since first year, when Lucius Malfoy was going to curse us for spiking his pumpkin juice with love potion." Lily laughed, remembering that event quite clearly. It had been very amusing to see the proud blonde seventh year declare his love for his fellow Slytherin friend, Dolohov.  
>"What else do you use it for besides hiding?" Lily asked, curious.<br>"Oh, a plethora of things." James waved a hand through the air, leading her down towards the Great Hall. "Sometimes we just hang out there when we're sick of Padfoot's fan club, we plan pranks there when we don't want to be overheard, and some people..." James rolled his eyes. "use it for snogging sessions."  
>"Sirius..." Lily frowned. "That's..."<br>"Gross, I know." James laughed. "But I promise, that's all they do. Sirius actually had morals, despite what many people think."  
>"Oh." Lily said again. She was learning a lot of unexpected things this evening.<br>"I suppose you're one of those people?" James raised his dark eyebrows at her.  
>"You could say that."<br>"Sirius may be a lot of things," James said fairly. "But he is not immoral or malicious, and most of all, he is not a Death Eater, no matter what his family is like." James's loyalty to his friend rang loud and clear in his strong voice.  
>"You really love your friends, don't you?" Lily asked.<br>"I would die for any one of them." James nodded solemnly.  
>"Even Peter?" Lily blurted out. "Especially Peter." James said. "Again, people have misconceptions about Peter. He's a good bloke, even though he may not fit in with the rest of the Marauders perfectly... he's our friend, and we care about him." Lily felt a small part inside of her melt slowly at James's tender expression.<br>They trouped down one last set of stairs, passing the Hufflepuff dorms.  
>"Here we are." James stopped in front of a large painting of a bowl of fruit "Tickle the pear." he instructed Lily.<br>"Seriousl- really?" Lily asked skeptically.  
>"Yeah, go ahead, tickle it!" James gave her a charming crooked smile. She did so, hesitantly. The entire portrait swung inwards and James pulled her in quickly.<br>"Mr. James Potter! Mr. James Potter!" a chorus of squeaky, exited voices enveloped them. Lily was quite startled by the mass of waist-height elves surrounding them. They all beamed up at her expectantly with enormous, round eyes. She immediately understood what James meant about them liking visitors.  
>"Hey Twinky!" James patted a blue-eyed elf on the head fondly. "Pokey, Blinky, Dolly, how's it going?" He acknowledged a few of the other elves kindly, giving them little high-fives.<br>"Very, very well, Mr. Potter." an elf squeaked happily. "What can we get you and the pretty red-haired miss?" Lily felt herself blush slightly "How about some lemon tea and some treacle tart?" James asked the elf kindly.  
>"Yes, Mr. James Potter, right away!" The elf squeaked before speeding off with a horde of others.<br>"Let's take a seat." James suggested, heading over to the four, long tables that sat in the center of the kitchen.  
>"So that's how it works!" Lily exclaimed, examining the set up carefully.<br>"Yup." James pulled out a seat for her, which she took graciously, then went around and sat across from her. "The Gryffindor table is directly above us. When they serve meals, they lay it out down here in it's correct layout, and they send it up using their own elfish magic."  
>"Fascinating," Lily breathed, watching the elves bustle about, preparing their food. "I see why you brought me here." she said pensively. "They aren't mistreated. Well, here at least. They just love to work."<br>James nodded. "I thought you'd appreciate that."  
>"You know what's funny?" she said, looking at James suspiciously.<br>"What?"  
>"Lemon tea and treacle tart is my favorite desert."<br>"I know." James said unblushingly. "That's why I asked for it."  
>"What else could you possibly know about me?" Lily's eyes widened slightly.<br>"Well..." James began, thinking hard. "I know that your favorite flowers are daisies, but I don't know why. You know, usually if a girl is named after a flower, that's her favorite flower." he looked at her, speculating. "I know that your favorite time of day is sunrise and that your favorite color is green." James paused and made a funny face. "Your favorite place to be is to be curled up in a ball in front of a fireplace with a book, you have a sister named Petunia that you don't like to talk about and you genuinely love your parents. Plus, I obviously know what your favorite desert is, and as anyone with eyes should know, your favorite book is Hogwarts, a History." She gaped at him wordlessly.  
>"Are you a stalker?" She sputtered.<br>"No, Lily. I just pay attention." He smirked at her expression.  
>"You can't learn all that just from watching someone!" she cried.<br>"Well, I did, so obviously it can be done." James continued smirking.  
>"Heres you go Mr. James Potter and young miss!" A couple of elves carried over a tray loaded with treacle tarts and a small set of china, spoons, two cups, and a cute little steaming teapot. They set the tray on the table and bobbed away, bowing and smiling.<br>"May I pour you a cup of tea?" James asked, using a very pompous voice and putting his nose up in the air. Lily gave a small laugh. "Yes, sir, thank-you kindly." she replied, mirroring his stuffy manner. "Here you are, Ms. Evans." James handed her a cup of tea, but not before adding one and a half teaspoons of sugar, leveled, not heaped, exactly the way she liked it. She couldn't help but stare at him in wonder as she took the tea.  
>"What?" he dropped his pompousness.<br>"Nothing." she dropped her gaze from his. It shouldn't surprise her that he knew that about her too... Maybe he really was a stalker. She should probably be afraid. But she wasn't. She felt... special.  
>"Okay." she stirred her tea pensively "If you notice so many... normal things about me, how many bad things have you noticed about me?"<br>"'Bad'" depends on your perspective of the word." James said wisely.  
>"Okay, well how many things that other people would think of as unattractive personality traits?"<br>"Quite a few." James flashed a wicked grin.  
>"Like what?" she smacked him on the arm.<br>"Are you sure you want to know?" his eyes twinkled merrily.  
>Merlin... his eyes looked so intricate in the firelight. The gold inside of them glowed like the rising sun.<br>"Yes, I want to know!" she said, exasperated.  
>"Fine, fine..." James grinned at her anxious expression, his white, even teeth shining in the fireli- gah! What was wrong with her?<br>"Firstly, you don't care about what anyone thinks of you." he began, counting on his fingers.  
>"That's a bad thing? Lily furrowed her brow.<br>"You asked me what other people find bad about you." He reminded her. "I, on the other hand, think that this is a remarkable trait." James said, returning to his pompous posture.  
>"Go on, then." Lily grinned.<br>"When you read, you don't even notice the world around you. Other people find this a very annoying habit, because the only way to get your attention is to snatch your book away from you." James laughed. "That's another thing! If someone does grab your book while you're reading it, you tend to hex them. This also seems to be a habit of yours that your friends do not enjoy." Lily smiled sheepishly and sipped her tea.  
>"You're pretty much a swotty goody-goody, you're terrified of breaking rules and-"<br>"Hey!" she cut him off. "I am in the kitchens at 12:30 AM. I am not a goody-goody!"  
>"Only after I dragged you here." James snorted before continuing. "You always give second chances, even if undeserved, and you don't have a boyfriend." Lily wasn't sure whether to be offended or flattered. "I didn't realize not having a boyfriend was such a horror." She said dryly.<br>"Nor did I." James said mildly. "But I guess if you aren't always with someone, people think you're abnormal."  
>"Hmm." she said noncommittally.<br>"Why are you never with anyone?" she blurted out. Merlin, what was wrong with her? Not only was she speaking impulsively, but she genuinely wanted to know. That frightened her. This is James Potter, she reminded herself firmly. Conceited, utterly over-persistent, obnoxious... incredibly handsome, loyal, adventurous, interesting ... she mentally shook herself. James was staring at her intently. She was glad he couldn't possibly know what she was thinking. Or could he? He seemed to know one too many things about her already.  
>"My mum always said, "If you're not ready for a fallout, you're not ready for a relationship." James stared into his teacup. "But when you find the one you would die for in a heartbeat, jump in with everything you have."<br>"Your mother sounds like a very intelligent woman." Lily said softly.  
>"She is," James nodded. "Intelligent, loving, beautiful, supportive. Everything I could ask for in a parent." Lily smiled at his love and respect for his mother. "She took Sirius in, though she knew who his family was and everything they believed in. Both my parents gave him a chance and accepted him for who he was. They're amazing people." James finished his sentiment softly. "What's your mum and dad like?" He asked her suddenly.<br>"Sweet, fair, organized, and very over-protective when it comes to me and Tuney." She was shocked at herself. She never called her sister "Tuney" in front of anyone but her family. She blamed it on the late hour and her frazzled state of mind.  
>"Your sister?" James asked gently. Lily nodded. "She hates me." she admitted in a whisper.<br>"That's not true." James put his hand over hers on the table. It was such a cliche statement, but she knew he believed it to be true. "Well, I feel like she does." Lily amended, James's hand giving her comfort. Suddenly, she wanted to tell someone about Tuney. She'd been so quiet about it since Severus and her broken off their friendship. She wanted to tell James. She wanted him to know about her internal struggles and her sadness.  
>"Tuney has hated me since she found out I was a witch and she wasn't." Lily said quickly. James merely looked at her, listening. "She was jealous. She even sent Dumbledore a letter, begging him to admit her too. Severus found the letter and we read it. After that, she avoided me. She called me a freak the day I left for school, and ever since she has been nothing but rude and cynical and disgusted by me." Her voice cracked on the last word. James squeezed her hand gently. "Now she's dating this awful boy Vernon, and she's not even around when I go home for the holidays. She makes me so angry! I'm always patient with her and kind, just hoping that she'll change her mind and take me back... but I know... I've lost her forever." A tear leaked out of her eye slowly. She sniffed, hating how pitiful she sounded. James moved to the seat beside her and put an arm around her tentatively. It made her feel secure, strong, and safe. He smelled wonderful, like fresh laundry and pine.<br>"Lily." He said softly into her hair. "No one in their right mind could hate you."  
>"Sometimes..." she said, tears now streaming freely, "I see something in her eyes, like she regrets what she did," her voice shook, but she continued. "but then those damned walls go up again and- and I can't... I just..." He didn't say anything, but let her bury her face into his chest and soak his t-shirt.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**All of this belongs to J.K. Rowling!**

Chapter 6

Lily woke the next morning, feeling slightly tired, but refreshed. She laid in bed and grinned euphorically into her pillow. Why was she so happy?  
>The events of last night flooded back to her in a rush. She shot upwards on her bed into a sitting position so quickly that it made her dizzy.<br>How had she let herself drop her guard like that? How could she let James do that to her? Make her so weak and vulnerable, but feel so protected and safe at the same time? No, she couldn't let that happen again. She resolved firmly to be more wary, stronger, more independent. James Potter would never see that side of her again. She got up and headed to the shower. James was in there; she could hear the sink running. She sunk to the floor by the doorway to wait. He never took long in the bathroom. She thought about their little adventure last night. After she had cried out all her tears, he had brought her back and said goodnight. That was all, but it had been enough. She never let her walls crash down like that. She had only ever let two people into her world, truly. Severus and Tuney. And what had they done? Betrayed her and scorned her. She wouldn't let her heart get trampled like that again, especially not by James bloody Potter. A few minutes later, James walked out of the bathroom, carrying his clothes in a bundle under one arm and wearing only a fluffy green towel, which was wrapped rather low around his waist.  
>"Bloody hell, Lily! You scared me!" James jumped back at the sight of her and blushed furiously. She also felt her face turning red as her eyes involuntarily stared at James's torso - tanned and perfect. Bloody hell was right! His abs were like a punch in the face, impossible to miss. He had the upper torso of a male model, probably better, with his six pack becoming more prominent with every inhale, and his solid-looking, bronzed pecs glistening slightly from the shower. Oh, Merlin, those arms...<br>"Sorry." They apologized at the same time as Lily forced herself to look at his face."  
>"I, er, thought you'd still be sleeping..." James drifted off towards the end of his sentence. Lily felt her resolve to stay distant from him crumble underneath his gaze that didn't quite meet her eyes. His facial expression was so opposite of what it usually was, now flushed, embarrassed and awkward. She giggled very un-Lilyishly. James looked at her with a somewhat hurt expression. His puppy-dog face just made her laugh even harder, falling against the wall and stomping her foot on the floor. She knew she looked like a fool, but she couldn't help it! When she thought she'd collected herself, she opened her eyes, but it was a mistake. His alarmed expression caused a whole new round of laughter. James's deep chuckles soon joined in with her shouts of laughter and he had lean against the doorframe of the bathroom for support. They were both on the floor, throats sore from laughing by the time they had collected themselves. "Why are you laughing?" Lily choked, rubbing tears off her face.<br>"I have no idea." James panted. "I think it might have been the fact that you are absolutely insane!" he gasped through his laughter.  
>"I am not!" she defended herself, "You should've seen your face, it was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life." James scowled at her. "Well you are just the most pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life!" he countered. "What in the blazes were you doing sitting on the floor hugging your knees in front of the bathroom door in your dressing gown?"<br>"Waiting for the shower." she said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. He rolled his eyes.  
>"Fair enough." He got to his feet, carefully making sure the towel covered his lower body. "If you don't mind, I'm going to get dressed." He said, turning around and heading towards his room. She gazed at wonder at his rippling back and tricep muscles. When he reached his door he turned and narrowed his eyes at Lily. "I do wish you wouldn't stare at my butt."<br>"I wasn't!" Lily shrieked a little too quickly. James grinned widely. "Okay, Lilypad."

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Lily was humming to herself quietly and flipping through <em>Quintessence: a Quest <em>absentmindedly as she strode down to the dungeons for Potions. Suddenly, a clammy hand grabbed her arm and wrenched her into the shadows, causing her book to fall to the floor with a _smack. _A couple of students turned and gave her puzzled glances.  
>"Snape." she snarled when the greasy, black haired boy stepped out from the shadows. "Let go of me." He released her arm slowly.<br>"Hi Lily." he said cooly, but she could see the hurt in his eyes at her cold greeting. Why did he always do that? He had called her a mudblood multiple times since fifth year, he only hung out with his death eater friends, and he claimed he hated her. Then why, for Merlin's sake, did he always get that look on his face when he saw her? It drove her mad! Was that supposed to make her feel guilty? Well, it worked. Very well.  
>"What do you want, Severus?" Lily sighed.<br>"Lils..." he began. She internally cringed at the use of her old nickname. It brought back so many wonderful childhood memories of her and Sev's friendship. "I- this is our last year at school..."  
>"So?" she said harshly.<br>"I just- can't we be friends? I don't want to leave school on bad terms with you. Don't you miss me?" she gaped wordlessly at his pleading expression. How dare he? After being cruel to her all through last year, now he asks for her friendship? What was she, some sort of disposable companion, worthless for the most part, but able to be used whenever he wished? No. James had said that she gave people second chances too easily. Well, this was her not giving Severus his fifteenth undeserved chance.  
>"WHO THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU <em>ARE<em>, SEVERUS SNAPE?" She exploded angrily, causing several students to stop and stare in interest.  
>She watched the cold look seep back into his eyes and immediately regretted her outburst.<br>"I just thought we could be friends, but if that is not a pleasurable idea to you, it isn't necessary." He said smoothly, all stutter and emotion void from his voice. Was he bipolar? She was so confused as his black eyes bored into hers, lifeless.  
>She softened her tone slightly. "Severus." she hesitated. "I miss you like crazy, but I can't be around you. You say you love me, but you hurt me. You say you don't care that I'm muggleborn, but you want to kill muggleborns like me and put purebloods in charge. You say you're not interested in Voldemort, but I know that you're planning on joining him. You're a liar, Severus. I just can't figure you out." she shook her head sadly. "I'll be your <em>friend, <em>Sev, when you realize that we're all equals, muggleborn, half-blood, or pureblood.  
>"I don't understand why I can't be friends with you and Mulciber and Avery at the same time." he said cooly.<br>She huffed, frustrated. "I've told you this before, Severus. They. Are. Evil. If you enjoy being with them, you're not the person you used to be."  
>"Have fun spending your life with Potter, then!" Snape spat as she swept up her book and turned on her heel away from him. "He's the only one that will accept filth like you!" Tears of anger welled up in her eyes. She turned to face the greasy boy, knowing that her tears would make him feel guilty. Sure enough, horror filled his expression at the sight of her emotional pain. "And you have fun spending your life killing mud-bloods like me." Lily flared her nostrils and marched out of the corridor, brewing with rage at Severus and his stupid, horrible, evil friends. She stomped into Potions, surprisingly early, went to her desk and slammed her books down. The students who were already there scooted away from her apprehensively, knowing that an angry head girl is not a good thing. Lily laid her head on her arms in misery. She really did miss Sev, but how could he do this to her? Boys were so stupid. A few minutes later, when more students started coming in, she felt someone sit down next to her. Who would be stupid enough to sit next to her while she was in this state? Only... "James." she greeted him dully. He looked at her with concerned hazel eyes. Merlin, how was he so gorgeous?<br>"May I sit here today?" he flashed a charming half-smile. She buried her head back in her arms so he wouldn't see her ridiculously watery grin. She was obviously emotionally unstable today...  
>"I don't care." she managed to grunt, hoping she sounded indifferent. There was a long silence. She could feel his gaze boring into the side of her head.<br>She peeked at him. He was staring at her intently.  
>"What?" she asked, slightly exasperated.<br>"What happened?" he asked seriously. She was about to say "nothing." but that darn expression on his face...  
>"Severus." she admitted. James gave menacing growl. She turned to face him, startled. His anger was so apparent, blazing in his eyes, in his tense posture, in his flared nostrils.<br>"James?" she asked tentatively.  
>"I'm so sick of him hurting you." James growled, his hand clenching their desk. She was astonished by how much he actually cared about her.<br>"That berk..." James muttered angrily. She placed a hand gently on his arm. This did seem to help a bit, because when their eyes met, his had lightened up again.  
>"It's okay, James." she said reassuringly. Why was she comforting him?<br>"What did he want?" James asked, relaxing his tense posture.  
>"To be friends." she answered shortly.<br>"Blimey, that bloke has some nerve." James scowled at their table. "How many times did he call you the M word last year?"  
>"At least once a month." she answered sullenly. James rolled his eyes. "That was a rhetorical question." She couldn't help but smile. They sat there, facing eachother, Lily's hand still resting on his arm. Their eyes bored into each-others, both smiling. Lily's heart began to speed it's pace. She felt heat rise up to her face. Bloody hell. Was she falling for James Potter?<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank-you to everyone so far who has been reading _Changed, _I am so excited about how many people have been reading this. I must say, I do wish more people would review though. This story has had over 1000 hits and only eight reviews... And may I also send a special shout-out to GoLilyandMarauders, thank-you for being my most faithful reviewer!  
><strong>

**(I know that it is argued whether Bellatrix and Rodolphus were at Hogwarts at the same time as James and Lily, but I threw them in here. I hope you don't mind!)**

**Please enjoy and review! Love you all!**

**Of course, none of this belongs to me; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, the Almighty Queen of writing.**

Chapter 7

Lily and James both continued their friendship as usual over the next week. James was scheduling Quidditch practices nearly every day, and with head duties, homework preparing them for NEWTs, and Lily's Slug Club dinners, they barely had any time to just hang around the common room and chat.  
>Finally, one night Lily looked at her schedule and realized she and James had patrol that evening from 9:00 to 11:00. She checked the time and was surprised when it was already 8:45. Where was James? She hadn't seen him since their last class (charms). She went upstairs to his dorm and knocked politely. No answer. What if he fell asleep? She would have to wake him up; they had to leave in fifteen minutes... She opened the door just a crack, and peeked in.<br>"James?" she whispered into the room, feeling foolish. He wasn't in sight. She swung the door open all the way an crept in tenatively. James was not there. She felt somewhat intrusive, being in his dorm without permission, but she couldn't help but take this opportunity to learn what she could about her fellow head. She could see that he was certainly loyal to his house; a few large Gryffindor themed banners hung neatly about the room. She could also see that he was a bit messy, but organized, as he had some stray robes strewn across the floor, but his bed was made and his dresser drawers neatly closed. On the wall, above his bookshelf (filled with photo albums, Quidditch books, and school textbooks) he had a collection of pictures, alongside a poster of England's Quidditch team. She went over to it and looked at the pictures. There were a few of him and his parents when James was little; the three of them waved up at her merrily. She couldn't help but smile back at the photo; James's chubby little face was just so adorable! And James was not lying when he had mentioned his mother being beautiful. With gorgeous, wavy, raven-colored hair and vivacious brown eyes, she could see where James got his good looks. His father had light brown hair, that in current pictures was flecked with gray. His green eyes sparkled merrily, as his son's often did. The next few photos were of him and the Marauders. She couldn't help but notice how out-of-place Peter looked next to the self-confident, handsome carelessness of James and Sirius. Then there was Remus, fawn-colored hair, equally good-looking, though slight scarred, and always the most mature and thoughtful one of the group. She'd never told anyone, but she had a crush on Remus in third year. It was just a small fancy, but it had been long ago that she realized any relationship between them would be just a little too... dull. They were far too much alike.  
>Remus was her friend now, since she discovered he was a werewolf. His symptoms were easy enough to identify for any observant individual that actually read up on magical creatures. When she had told Remus that she knew of his affliction, he had been afraid, afraid that she would tell the other students, or merely reject him and scorn him. But growing up in the muggle world, she hadn't grown up with the judgement and terror of werewolves like other witches and wizards here. So when she told him, earnestly, that she didn't care, it was almost like instant friendship. Remus was a wonderful person, and she pitied him every day for his undeserved misfortune. <em><br>_Therewere a few other photos of James on the wall, with people she assumed were his relatives. One seemed to be with his grandparents: he was standing in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor alongside a grayed haired woman with bright, joyful eyes, and a friendly-looking old man with knobbly knees and a long black beard. James had a large ice cream, which was melting quickly, so that his hands were covered with the sticky stuff. Lily laughed as she watched the ten-year old James try to suck the ice cream out of the bottom of his cone while his grandmother tried to clean him up with her wand. Lily suddenly felt as though someone was watching her. She turned quickly. James was standing in the doorway with his broom over his shoulder in Quidditch robes and an expression of mild surprise on his face.  
>"Er." he said.<p>

"James, I'm sorry!" she blurted out, incredibly embarrassed. "I just realized that we have patrol tonight, so I came to look for you, but you didn't answer when I knocked so I came in thinking you might have fallen asleep, because we had to go soon, and I thought I should come wake you up, but then I got distracted and I swear, I was just going to leave when you-" she stopped short at James's amused expression.  
>"Lily." he said patiently. "I honestly don't care." she was slightly bemused by the truthfulness in his voice. He sincerely did not care that she was snooping around in his room.<br>"I've lived with four other guys since I was eleven." he gave a crooked smile that made her breath catch. "Do you honestly think I have anything to hide?" he walked into his room, still looking at her appraisingly.  
>"Oh, well, I don't know." she blushed ferociously, partially because he had caught her in his room, and partially because of her rambling explanation. "Everyone has a secret or two." she said, trying to rid the ruddy tone from her cheeks. James's expression became thoughtful. "I guess you're right." he said pensively. "There is one thing I'm not sure I would want you to see in here..."<br>"Well." she said, extremely curious about James's secrets. "I apologize. I didn't mean to intrude." she grit her teeth slightly while saying this. She had hated him for the past six years, and now she was apologizing to him. It was not easy. He smirked at her conflicting expression.  
>"I love listening to you apologize, Lilypad."<br>"Why?" she wrinkled her nose at him.  
>"Because it's so difficult for you!" he cried, with exaggerated irritation.<br>"Usually I dont have a problem with apologizing." Lily sighed in defeat. "It's just you." James smirked again.  
>"Come here, Lils." he rolled his eyes. Usually if someone used the nickname "Lils" for her, she disliked it heartily, because of Severus's old inclination to call her that. But when James used it, it didn't remind her of old times she missed, it made her think of the present, hope, and new friendships. "I'll show you my deepest, darkest, innermost secret." he whispered mysteriously. She tried not to look too eager, but he apparently could see right through her. "I know you're dying to know!" James teased, motioning her over to his four-poster. He set his broom lovingly onto the bed, and said, "Take a seat." She crossed the room and plopped onto his bed, trying not to look awkward about it while he rummaged through his trunk. "Usually I don't make a habit of leaving this lying about the castle." he said, extracting a fluid and silvery gray piece of sheer fabric . She gasped as he shook it out to it's full length. It rippled like water woven into material, smoother than silk, light as air. It was splendid.<br>She gasped. "Is that-?" James swung it over his shoulders and clasped it so that his entire body disappeared. She could almost feel her eyes popping out of their sockets. "An invisibility cloak!" she breathed, looking at James's floating head in awe. He grinned as he walked around the room. She giggled. Just seeing someone's head float around the room of it's own accord was extremely bizarre. "Where'd you get it?" she asked curiously.  
>"My dad." James smiled and put the hood up so that he was completely invisible. The floor creaked with quiet footsteps, but had no idea where he had gone.<br>"James!" she said, alarmed. "That is very disconcerting!" Silence. "James..." she said warily.  
>"Boo." James's face appeared inches from hers.<br>"Gahh!" she shrieked, and punched him on the arm. He didn't flinch, but it certainly did hurt her hand.  
>His didn't move, but stayed, mere inches away from her. She could feel his breath caress her cheek softly when he exhaled, washing her over with the scent of mild pine. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she realized just how close their lips were. She couldn't help but glance down at his perfect smile... his perfect lips...<br>Their eyes met. His were dilated, so that they appeared to be a luminous chocolate brown with flecks of green and gold. He grinned before leaning back and whipping off the cloak. It had only been a mere second, but her brain was more frazzled that Tuney's hair in the morning.  
>"So- where- where'd your dad get it?" she asked, trying to resume normal conversation though her heart pounded wildly in her chest.<br>"Oh, it's been passed down from generation to generation." he said, folding the cloak carefully and waving his wand over it.  
>"What are you doing?" she inquired, puzzled.<br>"Shrinking it." he answered, as the cloak reduced in size so that it would fit a doll.  
>"Hmm." Lily mused as James tucked it in his pocket.<br>"Blimey!" James's eyebrows shot up into his messy hair as he looked at his wristwatch. "It's five to nine, we'd better get going."  
>"Oh, right." Lily said, still trying to re-organize her thoughts.<br>"One second." she dashed from James's room and into hers. She quickly grabbed her favorite perfume and misted herself with it. She ran a brush through her hair and gave her teeth a quick but thorough brushing. She checked herself in the mirror and obsessively brushed her hair again.  
>"It's James Potter." she breathed to herself, trying to calm down her system. "You don't care what he thinks of you." despite the fact that she didn't care, she took an extra second to lay on a thin coat of her raspberry lipbalm. "Okay, sorry!" she called to James as she walked to his closed door. "I'm ready now."<br>"Me too." James opened the door. He had changed out of his Quidditch robes and was wearing light-colored, loose, but not baggy jeans, and a simple black t-shirt... but bloody hell, was that boy good to look at in black. She managed to make a disproving face at his attire. It seemed that was the only way to keep her emotions in check._ Mmm... those biceps though.._.  
>"What?" He asked, looking down at himself self self-consciously.<br>"You don't look very official, that's all." she shrugged. He turned and walked back into his room, reappearing a moment later with his head boy badge pinned onto his jean pocket. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his attempt to look official.  
>She also took off her robe, so that they would at least match. And so she wouldn't feel weird dressed for school when he wasn't. She also pinned her badge onto her white V-neck, pretending not to notice that James had definitely just checked her out. She desperately tried not to be pleased by this, but failed.<br>"Okay." she said, tossing her robes back into her room carelessly. "Now I'm ready." James gave her a cheeky grin and set off down the stairwell. "So how has your week been?" James asked convivially. "Oh, you know, the usual." Lily shrugged. "Homework, being bored to death by Professor Binns, avoiding Severus and his creepy friends, sent a letter to Tuney, Mum, and Dad, docked about a hundred points from this Hufflepuff girl-"  
>"Sorry." James interrupted her. "But do you and your sister... write to each-other often?"<br>She pursed her lips and shook her head sadly. "I write to her... often... but she never replies." James looked at her, sympathy filling his vibrant eyes. His hand twitched towards hers as if he wished to squeeze it in comfort, but he stopped in midair somewhat awkwardly. She feinted unawareness and kept walking in no particular direction.  
>"So how was your week?" she asked conversationally. James stepped back into the conversation with vigor.<br>"Well, tons of Quidditch practice, obviously," He rubbed his left shoulder as though it was injured. "like you said, homework, and... well, you'll see on Monday." he winked at her, which made her blush furiously. He definitely noticed, because when he looked away from her, he was smirking victoriously.  
>"What are you plotting for Monday?" she demanded, trying to recover from her blush for the second time tonight.<br>"Just a little surprise for the Slytherins." he grinned mischievously. She shook her head. "I could report you." she reminded him.  
>"Yeah, but you won't." James said confidently.<br>"You don't know that." Lily said, even though he was right. Most of the Marauders' pranks were harmless, and they had increased in wit and decreased in harm, getting better and better each school year. This year, though she wouldn't admit it if her life depended on it, she had been slightly looking forward to what they were planning this year.  
>"So, sorry I interrupted you before, what were you saying, about the Hufflepuff girl...?"<br>"Oh, yes, that." she rolled her eyes in the memory. "So I was just going to the Room of Requirement to study, right?"  
>"Right." James smiled. Why did he always look at her like that? The funny thing was, she didn't mind it anymore.<br>"So I walk in, as usual, and there's this pair of Hufflepuffs laying on my studying table, on top of each-other!" she exclaimed in dismay. James's eyebrows shot up into his chaotic hair.  
>"And the girl was, er... definitely not what i would call 'decently dressed' when I interrupted them... " Lily said awkwardly. "she seemed as though she was coming on pretty strong to the guy."<br>"Blimey." James remarked, looking at Lily in interest. "So what did you do?"  
>"Well first I just sort of stared at them in disgust, but then I sort of started yelling at them, and docked a hundred points from Huffepuff." she shrugged.<br>"Seems a little harsh, doesn't it?" James asked fairly.  
>"Well, I was going to dock fifty, since it was after curfew... but that was before the girl called me a 'bloody bitch'." James looked angered by this.<br>"Merlin..." he shook his head  
>"Yeah, well, I don't mind that much." Lily pursed her lips. "I've been called worse."<br>The James she knew and hated back in fifth year would have bugged her to no end, interrogating her about who had insulted her. But James had changed. He didn't comment but gave a her a small twisted smile. They wandered in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Lily couldn't help but be distracted by how close they walked alongside each-other, the arms occasionally brushing, sending shivers down her spine.  
>"Are you cold?" James asked politely after she had visibly shaken for the third time.<br>"Er, a little." she said, it being true, though that wasn't the reason she had shivered.  
>James waved his wand over her so that a sensation of warmth enveloped her. She was impressed.<br>"Thanks." she said. He nodded in acceptance. "Where'd you learn that one?"  
>"Our charms textbook." he raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm shocked you didn't know that!" She rolled her eyes.<p>

"Despite what some people think, I do not read all of our school books cover to cover."  
>He grinned slightly. "Despite what everyone thinks, I do read all our textbooks cover to cover."<br>"You do not." Lily said disbelievingly.  
>"Yes, I do."<br>"I'm speechless."  
>He chuckled in amusement.<br>"Well, doesn't it explain my lack of sentence in Azkaban and the teacher's adoration for me?" James smiled charmingly.  
>"The teachers do not adore you!" she made a face at him.<br>"Okay, well Slughorn and Kettleburn do." he defended himself. She couldn't help but silently agree.  
>"I think Slughorn loves me more, though." she grinned back at James.<br>"How dare you suggest such a thing?" He gasped in mock horror  
>"He so does." Lily countered playfully. "Don't you notice the way he always comes to see my potion first?"<br>"That's a personal thing, Lils." James rolled his eyes. "I've thought for a while that he fancies you." She elbowed him in the stomach playfully, noting that she could feel the contours of his abs through his t-shirt.  
>"That's a horrible thing to say!"<br>"Oh, it's not that bad... he can't be older than thirty!" James elbowed her back gently.  
>"Yes, but he's rather... large, and reminds me of a cross-breed of a walrus and an over-stuffed armchair." she said, quirking her eyebrows. James stared at her for a moment, then started laughing hysterically. She couldn't help but laugh with him. His laughter was just so infectious. His joy filled her up, erasing the gap in her heart that was from the losses in her life. She gazed at him in affection as he continued to laugh. He really was gorgeous...<br>"A walrus and an armchair?" he choked.  
>"An over-stuffed one." she corrected, giving him a wry smile. "And blonde's not my type anyways..."<br>"What is your type?" James quirked his eyebrows back at her._ Black hair, hazel eyes, incredible abs_... She blushed, though she hadn't said it aloud.  
>"I'm not sure yet." she said half-truthfully. James shrugged and muttered something that sounded like "over-stuffed armchair...<em> how does she come up with these things?<em>..."  
>"Where are you going, Lily?" James asked and stopped. She looked around. Where was she going? She had subconsciously been heading towards the grounds. They were now standing in the empty Entrance Hall.<br>"Oh." she remarked. "I don't know." James chuckled. She looked out the window of the Hall out at the grounds, lit brightly by the full moon.  
>"Poor Remus." she said softly. She knew he was somewhere out there in pain, probably suffering in loneliness and pain.<br>James looked at her tenderly. "Come on," he said, motioning for her to follow him. "Let's go check the Great Hall" She followed James into the Great Hall. The extravagant room seemed so empty without the hundreds of students it usually held. Their shoes slapped against the stone floor, echoing loudly around the room.  
>"All clear." James said, swinging his lit wand around the room.<br>"Downstairs?" Lily suggested. They trouped down a few staircases, and patrolled around for a while, arguing about whether McGonogall fancied Dumbledore or not.  
>"Where are we?" Lily asked after they had figured that Dumbledore and McGonogall were secretly in love, but out of professionalism, denied their passion for each-other.<br>"Well I think the Slytherin common rooms are right ahead..." James said, his voice echoing off the damp stone walls.  
>"Stop." he suddenly whispered, holding up a hand to hold her back from a plain looking door.<br>"What?" she hissed.  
>"Nox." James whispered, so that his wand light was extinguished. They were plunged info complete darkness.<br>"James?" she hissed, panicking slightly. His warm hand grabbed hers and gently pulled her towards him. Her heart stuttered, whether because of his unexpected movement or because he touched her, she didn't know for sure, but had a hunch it was the latter.  
>"Shh." She felt James's finger brush her lips slightly. Goosebumps rose on her arms. "Follow me and stay quiet." he instructed. "<em>Engorgio<em>!" There was a faint rustling sound, and a smooth cloth was suddenly thrown over her. She squeezed James's hand. She could feel him right next to her under the cloak, his warm, muscled arm pressed against hers.

"Are we invisible?" she whispered into James's ear, a flyaway hair of his tickling her cheekbone lightly.  
>"Yes." he responded after a moment. She could've sworn his breath caught in his throat, though. The husky tone of his voice made her insides tingle - something she'd never felt before.<em> Bloody hell<em>.  
>"<em>Alohomora<em>." he whispered, and pulled her through the door as silently as possible, creeping quietly into the corridor. There, dimly lot by a few wands, was a group of teenagers. Lily gasped slightly as she saw who made up the circle of nightime prowlers. Avery, Mulciber, and Wilkes, whose first names she didn't know. Then there was the rather attractive Evan Rosier, little Regulus Black, his older cousin Bellatrix Black, Rodolphous Lestrange, and... Severus, looking bored and as though he was too cool for the world. What were they doing here?  
>"Who's there?" Bellatrix hissed into the darkness, her shadowy eyes peering in their direction. She was beautiful, no doubt. Perfect, tall, regal body, beautiful long black hair, and handsome Black features. But her inner self and haughty expression kept most boys at an arm's length. Or a room's length. She felt James stiffen beside her. She froze in place beside him, forgetting for a terrifying moment that she was completely invisible as a beam of wandlight hit them.<br>"Bella, what are you talking about?" Sirius's little brother asked, the rest of the group staring at her with puzzled expressions.  
>"No." Severus's cold voice seeped through Lily's heart like ice. His apathetic expression made her want to run across the room and beat the old him out. Where was the Sev? Where did her friend go? "The door opened." Severus murmured, his lips hardly moving. "Bella isn't mad.", his black eyes flickered across the room. Lily's heart sped it's pace slightly as he seemed to stare right at her. She laced her fingers through James's, reassuring herself.<br>"But there's nobody there!" hissed Wilkes, pointing his lit wand in their direction. Lily felt so exposed, like he should be staring right at her, but his eyes simply swept right over her. This was so weird.  
>"It's probably just Peeves." Lestrange shrugged, his bemused expression looking out of place on his haughty face.<br>"Or that blasted cat." Evan Rosier said absentmindedly, twirling his wand through his fingertips. Lily supposed he was referring to Mrs. Norris, the seemingly possessed kitten.  
>"So back to the matter at hand." Avery clapped his hands together impatiently. "I wanted everyone here tonight so I could share... certain somewhat confidential information that my father has made me aware of."<br>"It's a secret?" Relegus' pale face looked eager in the wandlight.  
>"Shut it, Black." Mulciber shot him a death glare. Lily felt a pang of sorrow for the poor boy. He was only fifteen, but already so wrapped up in fitting in and trying to impress his family, he'd forgotten who he really was.<br>"So." Avery continued mysteriously, his dark eyes glinting maliciously. "We all know that the Dark Lord is rising, and quickly. We also know that whoever's with him's rising aswell, and whoever's against him's going down." They all nodded in assent. Even Severus. That foul, loathsome, cockroach of a traitor.  
>"Well, as some of you already know, my uncle went to school with the Dark Lord himself, and he has some connections."<br>"Yes, Avery we know." Rosier rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Avery ignored him.  
>"Well in my uncle's last letter he said that the Dark Lord has started branding his followers with something called the Dark Mark." He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. "The Dark Lord is going to <em>my<em> uncle's house, and anyone who desires to pledge allegiance to the him can come and be branded by the Dark Lord himself!" if his eyes were glinting before, now they were burning with thrill. Some excited murmurs were exchanged inside the circle. Relegus was wide eyed, and Severus even looked a tad bit surprised, but it was nothing compared to Bellatrix. Her entire face lit up devilishly, and she trembled with what appeared to be joy. Lily felt somewhat sick at their thrill. It was just so wrong. Voldemort had done nothing good so far but kill a few Muggle-borns. Was that what they all wanted so badly? To murder innocent people? James squeezed her hand reassuringly. She leaned into him slightly for comfort.  
>"We will go." Bellatrix spoke strongly. "We must. This is our chance to show the Dark Lord how committed we are to his cause. We must go." She looked around, as though daring someone to argue with her.<br>"Um, Bella?" Relugus piped up nervously.  
>"What?" she said harshly.<br>"How are we going to get out of the castle?"  
>"That's another reason I asked you all to come here." Avery looked around at them. "I don't know how we're going to fool Dumbledore into letting us all out of the castle. Or sneaking out of the castle without anyone noticing." They all put on thoughtful expressions.<br>"I know." Severus said with no emotion in his eyes, "Potter." James started and Lily's heart sped like hummingbird wings. Did he know they were there? What was he talking about? Could his icy, penetrating stare see past invisibility cloaks?  
>"What?" Wilkes expressed Lily's inquiries, puzzled.<br>"Potter has a map with every secret passageway out of the school." Severus said coldly. "If we take it, we could probably get into Hogesmade and apparate from there.  
>"How do you know that?" Mulciber demanded. "Suddenly you're best mates with James Potter?"<br>"No." Severus said calmly. "I will never stoop to the likes of him." Lily squeezed James's hand gently, thinking of what Severus would say if he could actually see her in this position.  
>"Great." Lestrange said exuberantly. "I say we steal the ruddy map, and do it. Bella's right." she gave him a somewhat suggestive smile at these words. He returned her smirk. "This is our chance. Once we're branded, we're in it forever, no turning back. Giving all for the Dark Lord, ultimate power, and no more filthy mudbloods!" Bellatrix gazed at him in adoration as he finished his monologue.<br>"All right, how do we get the map from Potter?" Wilkes asked excitedly.  
>"Accio Potter's map!" Bellatrix pointed her wand upwards. James stiffened beside her. The group waited in suspense for a moment.<br>"That was dramatic." Severus drawled after a pregnant pause.  
>"There's enchantments on all the dorms to prevent thievery." Relugus spoke up nervously.<br>"We'll just have to sneak up there and get it ourselves." Lestrange scowled. "That could be difficult though."  
>"Anyone know how to get into Gryffindor tower?" Wilkes asked.<br>"Potter's head boy." Severus stated, some emotion finally in his dark eyes. "He doesn't stay in Gryffindor Tower anymore." Lily could help but notice the anger in his eyes as he said this. She couldn't help but feel somewhat victorious. He was jealous of not just James anymore, but he was jealous of her and James.  
>"Oh, I forgot your friends with that little mud-blood girl!" Bellatrix shrieked with mirth.<br>"I am no longer." Lily's heart sunk at his apathetic words. "I was ignorant then." He continued, "but now I know she is nothing but filth beneath our feet." James's hand tightened around hers protectively. She gave him a sorrowful smile underneath the cloak. Their eyes met. Again, Lily felt an electric sort of pulse shoot through her veins. _Forget Severus._  
>"Can we go?" she whispered as quietly as she was able into his ear. He nodded silently, but put up one finger to signal "one minute."<br>"Alright, I'll follow Potter back from dinner sometime and see where their room is." Mulciber said.  
>"Won't he wonder why you're following him?" Wilkes asked, bemused.<br>"Disillusionment charm, dumbarse." Mulciber spat back at him. Real pleasant lot they were here...  
>"I'll follow him in, sneak up to the dorm, and take the map. It's not complicated."<br>"Won't he realize that someone's there if his possessions start flying around his room seemingly of their own accord?" Lestrange asked fairly.  
>"Merlin, you make everything so complicated." Mulciber cried, aggravated. "I'll just wait around until I get my chance."<br>"Sounds like a good plan." Rodolphous nodded in agreement. "Once we have the map, we'll go from there?" The rest of the group nodded too. "Well, I'll let everyone know when I have the map." Mulciber said. "We should probably head back to the common room." They all trouped out the opposite door, Bellatrix fantasizing aloud about being "one of the Dark Lord's very own servants." Once they had all gone, James whipped off the cloak, and stared at Lily, wide-eyed.  
>"Blimey! We are so lucky we came across this conversation!"<br>"So it's true?" she asked anxiously. "You really do have a map with all the secret passageways out of the school?" He looked slightly guilty. "Er, yes."  
>"Where'd you get it?" she asked curiously.<br>"Well... we kind of made it."  
>"We?"<br>"Sirius, Remus, Peter and I." Her impressedness overtook her disapproval for his neglect for the rules and his knowledge of every illegal way out of the school.  
>"Oh." She said, raising her eyebrows. "Well I'd keep an eye on that thing." He bit his lip in thought.<br>"We'd better tell Dumbledore." he said after a moment. She was somewhat surprised at his idea. "Won't that mean you have to tell him about your map?"  
>James shrugged. "He probably knows more or less everything that goes on in this castle anyways."<br>"True." she conceded. "When do you think we should tell him?"  
>"Now?" James suggested.<br>"Its kind of late." she also bit her lip, subconsciously mirroring James's facial expressions.  
>"He'd want to know." James said confidently. "We're talking about a large group of students sneaking out of the school to join Voldemort and pledge allegiance to him."<br>"Off to Dumbledore's office, then." she said firmly. They set off at a quick, jittery pace. Severus's cold face swirled in her mind. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of you-know-who's rise to power._ I'll never join him_. Lily thought, anger bubbling up inside of her. If the very idea of Voldemort had turned Severus - an innately good person - to an emotionless muggleborn killer, the Dark wizard was strong. And she would fight him with everything she had. She would stay on the good side, with good people that loved and cared about her despite her blood-status. People who cared about blood status were simply wrong.  
>It was at that moment she decided she would fight against Voldemort every chance she got. And she knew the person beside her would too. She looked at James out of the corner of her eye. His jaw was set and his face solemn. She knew his thoughts must be similar to hers in that moment. She felt so safe, and comfortable with him. Right now she should be distraught, frustrated, and scared. But she felt powerful. And it was only when they reached Dumbledore's office entrance on the second floor that she realized hers and James's hands were still twined together.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, all! I hope you like this chapter; I'm not _entirely_ happy with it, but hopefully you aren't as picky about writing style as I am. If there are any mistakes about anything, please tell me, I am grateful for corrections as long as they aren't cruel or heartless. **

**Sorry about the weird formatting on this chapter, I'm still confused about the paragraphing on fanfiction. ****Also, my apologies for the plagiarism on some things. I try not to copy directly from the books, but sometimes I do steal little bits. I hope you don't mind. **

**And as always, this doesn't belong to me, it belongs to J.K. Rowling ****  
><strong>

Chapter 8

"Do you want me to keep the map on hand today?" Lily asked James, anxious. "You'll be distracted today with the match and everything." She'd been very concerned about keeping Marauder's map safe these past few days. The thought of Severus running off to join Voldemort was horrendous, and she would do everything she could to prevent it. Right now, that included keeping the map far, far away from the Slytherins. If they couldn't get out of the castle, they couldn't become Death Eaters. It was as simple as that.

"Sure." James said, pulling the creased, slightly yellowed piece of parchment out of his robes. "Do you want me to show you how to use it?" he asked wryly, eyes sparkling.

"I don't know…" Lily looked at the parchment apprehensively. That map was the key to the Marauder's success in rule-breaking. She felt as though knowing how to use it would somehow hold her responsible for not confiscating it.

"I'll show you anyways." He plopped down next to her on their couch and pulled out his wand. His warm arm brushed up against hers, shooting an electrified spark down her body.  
>"First, you tap it with your wand." He did so, while she tried to calm her heart rate. "Then you say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.'" Instantly, ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from where the wand's tip met the parchment. They joined each other, the crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:<p>

"Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
>Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers<br>are proud to present  
><em>THE MARAUDER'S MAP<em>"

It was fabulous. The map showed every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable things were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in miniscule writing.

"Wow!" Lily said in amazement. "This is incredible!" She couldn't take her eyes off of all the little black spots. There was Alice, in the Gryffindor common room, Filch sulking around the second floor with Mrs. Norris, and her and James up in the Head's tower. "Messers. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" she read out loud, eyebrows high on her forehead.

"Our nicknames." He explained, a hint of redness rising to his cheeks.

"Peter is Wormtail, right?" she asked, confident in her observation.

"Yes." He said, cocking his head at her. "How'd you know?"

"Because Remus must be Mooney - that only makes sense - and I know that neither you nor James would have taken the nickname 'Wormtail.'"

"True." James nodded.

"So are you Padfoot or Prongs?" she asked, surveying James. What odd nicknames. How did they even come up with these?

"Prongs." James admitted. Lily turned her eyes back to the map. It really was a sort of clever piece of magic. There were rooms on the map she hadn't even known existed, and passages leading off the map to who knows where.

"When did you start plotting this out?" she asked curiously. She imagined it must've taken a long time to accomplish such a detailed diagram of the entire castle.

"Well, we started on it in fifth year, and we've been adding to it ever since." He said, then pointed at the Slytherin dorms where Severus, Avery, and Mulciber were labeled. "I've been keeping an eye on them."

"Good." Lily said resolutely. "Have they been up to anything suspicious?"

"Not that I can see. They do spend an awful lot of time cooped up in that dorm though."

"Hmm."

"Indeed." he agreed. "But I'll keep watching for any peculiar behavior." He frowned down at the Slytherin's dots. "But anyways, that's pretty much it. Then when you're done you tap it," he did so again, "and say, "mischief managed." The illustrations vanished instantly. "Or else anyone can read it."

"Did you tell them everything we heard?" Lily asked absentmindedly, as James handed her the map and she tucked it carefully into her robes.  
>"Sirius, Remus, and Peter?" James clarified. Dumbledore hadn't told them not to tell anyone else about the Syltherin's plot to become Death Eaters, but she thought it wasn't information they should shout about in the corridors.<br>"Yeah, I couldn't not tell them." James ran a hand through his hair. "They're my best mates, and I made sure they won't tell anyone else."  
>She nodded but didn't comment. If he thought Dumbledore wouldn't mind him telling them, she trusted his judgment. He deserved that much.<br>"Nervous about the match?" she asked, moving her copy of _Achievements in Charming_ off the top of the couch and onto their coffee table.  
>"Nah..."<p>

She looked at him doubtfully.  
>"Okay, well I am." he admitted, tousling his hair again. Funny. That used to annoy her to no end. But now it just seemed like a habit. Admittedly, a rather endearing one.<br>"I'm sure you'll be fine." she said soothingly. "I noticed when I watched your practice; the team is shaping up really well this year."  
>"Yeah, I'm pretty proud of them." James smiled.<br>"You're a good captain, James." she said kindly. "And a good head boy." James cocked his head at her inquisitively. She supposed he wasn't really used to her complimenting him. But it was true. He was the one to suggest going to Dumbledore when they caught the Slytherins plotting, he took care of the younger students, and he didn't even abuse his ability to dock points. More than she could say sometimes…  
>"Thanks Lily. It means a lot coming from you." Looking slightly more confident, he got up and straightened his robes. "I'm going to grab some breakfast before I head down to the pitch. You coming?" She shrugged and got up.<br>"Sure." They walked downstairs together, chatting about the upcoming match.  
>"I'm worried." James admitted as they maneuvered through a group of ghosts in the hall. "Slytherin doesn't have a lot of skilled players, but the cheating they get away with is incredible! I'm just worried they'll win unfairly, or someone will get hurt, like Tonks. She's so small!" Lily found James's paternal concern for the youngest player adorable. "I'm just glad Relugus is their seeker and not Wilkes!" he said thankfully.<br>Lily shuddered at the thought of Tonks facing Wilkes, Malfoy and Rosier. They, unlike James, didn't care about injuring younger students. They'd probably knock her off her broom if it meant a win for them.

"Is she nervous?" Lily asked, referring to Tonks. She knew it was the girl's first official Quidditch game at Hogwarts.

"I think so." James nodded. "But she handles the nerves pretty well."

"Quidditch really is a dangerous sport." Lily remarked seriously.

"I know, but I trust Dumbledore wouldn't actually let any harm come to any of his students."  
>He opened the vast oak door for her as they entered the Great Hall.<p>

"Has anyone ever died playing Quidditch?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Not that I know of." James chuckled. "Though I certainly feel as though I've had a few near misses."

"Very true." She conceded. "How many bones have you broken over the years playing Quidditch?" James furrowed his brow in thought.

"Skull, rib, left arm, jaw, right arm... six? No – I broke my right arm twice. So really, only five bones."

"Oh, okay, only five." She rolled her eyes and suddenly realized that a large majority of students were staring at them avidly and whispering.

She blushed and lowered her eyes. James seemed oblivious, he just walked sigh his shoulders back and chin forward. Well, he was used to people staring at him, she was not. When they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Lily hissed,

"Why is everyone looking at us?"

James looked up at the ogling faces. "Oh, you know." he laughed quietly and waved cheerfully to a gawking Ravenclaw. "You've hated me since first year, and now we're perfectly friendly. It's something to talk about." Lily took a seat at the Gryffindor table and self-consciously began loading her plate with fruit.

I didn't hate you." she disagreed. He raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.  
>"Really."<br>"Okay, well maybe a little." she admitted, blushing.  
>"I don't blame you." he shook his head in shame, and popped a piece of toast into his mouth. "I was a prat. Every year I look back and say, 'Wow, I was an idiot. This year will be better." he shook his head again. "And then I say it again at the end of that year!"<br>"That's funny, I say the exact same thing every year too."  
>"Well I do think you're temper has shrunken somewhat." James smiled crookedly.<br>"Well I do think your head has shrunken somewhat." she replied sharply.  
>"Agreed." he said, failing to refrain from smiling at her severe expression. He poured her some pumpkin juice, handed it to her, then raised his glass in the air and said pompously, "To new friendships, to the future, and to fighting against Voldemort."<p>

"Cheers." Lily smiled.

They clinked their glasses together and drained their pumpkin juice.  
>"We'll do this with firewhiskey sometime." James laughed when they both banged their glasses back onto the table.<br>"We will not!" Lily huffed. Bloody hell, what a jawline he had. They tan angles of his face were so sharp and perfectly symmetrical. She just wanted to reach over and touch his face... his soft, smooth, skin…  
>"I'm kidding, Lily." James laughed at her expression, which must've been half disproving, half gazing in wonder at his looks. "I've tried the stuff, it's horrible."<br>"Where did you try firewhiskey?"  
>"Well, Sirius-"<br>She held up a hand to stop him. "Never mind, I don't think I really want to know." she shook her head. "Don't your parents care about Sirius being a bad influence on you?" Her parents would throw a fit if she ever brought Sirius home to meet them. Though the situations may differ slightly.  
>"They think of him more as a misbehaving son." he chuckled softly.<p>

"I didn't realize they were so close." Lily remarked, puzzled. He looked at her intently.  
>"Sirius has been living with us since he was sixteen."<br>"Oh!" she was very surprised. She knew that Sirius had family problems; the multiple howlers he had gotten throughout the years made that obvious. But Lily had still always imagined the boy strutting through his rich, pureblood family's manor, ordering house elves around without a burden or care in the world.  
>"Did he run away?" she asked curiously.<br>"He didn't really have a choice." James said, sadness filling his eyes. "He was basically kicked out, blasted off the family tree, and his inheritance was given to his little brother." Lily felt her eyes widen. That was horrible! Sirius's lighthearted facade must be just that- a facade. He must've learned to hide the pain over the years.  
>"That's awful." she said sadly.<br>"Yes," James agreed. "But my parents are great. They know he's not the best influence on me, but they love him anyways." They sat in silence for a moment. "Anyways," James frowned. "I became of age in March, so it is perfectly acceptable for me to drink firewhiskey." he pursed his lips. "Well, not perfectly acceptable to my parents," he mumbled, "but... you know..."  
>"What day's your birthday?" Lily asked, taking a bite of toast and ignoring James's mutterings.<br>"March 27th." He said briskly. "When's yours?"  
>"Don't you already know?" she teased.<br>"Well I know it's toward the end of January, right?" James smirked.  
>"The thirtieth." she shook her head in awe. "You frighten me sometimes, James Potter."<br>A blur of neon-green hair flashed by Lily. Nymphadora, of course.  
>"Hi James! Hi Lily!" The twelve-year-old's bright eyes sparkled mischievously at the sight of them. "Have you made up?"<br>"You could say that." James winked at Tonks slyly. She grinned back at him.

"What time should I be on the pitch, Captain?"  
>"Er, a couple minutes." James said. "Don't overeat, okay?"<br>"Okay!" she grinned at him again and flounced off to sit with Mary MacDonald, tripping slightly over her own feet.  
>"You know, I've thought since I met Tonks that she fancied Remus." Lily said thoughtfully.<br>James chuckled heartily. "Yeah, I think so too." He gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment. "You know what's funny though?" he asked, tossing another sausage into his mouth.  
>"What?"<br>"Remus needs someone like Tonks."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him.  
>"I'm not saying they should be together or something!" James reassured her. "She's twelve, for Merlin's sake. But I don't know, I think a really energetic, somewhat mad person would be good for him." Lily could see what he meant. A lot of the time it seemed as though Remus needed a little spark of insanity in his life, in spite of James and Sirius's antics.<br>"I think you're right." she said speculatively. "And Sirius... well, all he needs in life is a mirror, and he'll be set." James laughed.  
>"Oh, he's not all that conceited." He waved a hand casually. "The attention of all the fan girls gets to his head sometimes, that's all. He's loads better than the last couple years though." Lily gave a noncommittal sort of hum. "Peter..." she said, thinking hard. "Peter needs loyal friends, and someone to watch out for him."<br>James looked at her thoughtfully. "And what do I need?"  
>"You need to get your arse on the pitch!" Sirius had appeared at James's side. Lily had been so wrapped up in her and James's conversation that she had completely forgotten they were surrounded by hundreds of other people.<br>"Crikey!" James's hand shot up to his hair as he looked at the time. "We do have to go!" Sirius nodded and winked at Lily.

"And how are you this fine day, Ms. Evans?" Sirius asked her, his handsome face lit up impishly, not unlike Tonks had been. Why did everyone look at her like that?

"Good, thank-you Sirius." she said civilly.

"As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I'm going to round up Fabian and Benji." Sirius grinned once more and headed off to hassle the team's beaters.  
>"Well, good luck," she smiled at James. "I'll be the one in the crowd wearing red and gold." He laughed.<br>"Thanks, Lils. I'm sure I'll spot you in your unusual attire." Their eyes met. She had a sudden, overwhelmingly burning urge to stand and kiss him on the cheek. Her heart raced though neither of them had moved. Her fingers began to tremble on the table as the moment lengthened. She started as he stood up quickly.  
>"I'll see you after the match, Lils." He said his voice faintly huskier than usual.<br>"Okay." she managed to stutter, just a moment late. He grinned, looking slightly off, and left the hall, receiving several claps on the back from their fellow Gryffindors. She gazed after him longingly. The way his hair stuck up in the back was just so bloody cute! How she would enjoy running her fingers through it... oh, to stroke his tantalizing skin, to feel the intensity of his eyes, to feel his lips on hers...  
>"Lily..." a hand was waving in front of her face vigorously. Lily started and looked up.<br>"Oh, hullo Alice." she said, trying to clear her head. Alice raised an eyebrow at her best friend.  
>"What's wrong with you?"<br>"Something." Lily said honestly, watching James walk out the door out of the corner of her eye.  
>Alice narrowed her blue eyes at Lily and followed her gaze. Lily watched as her friend's eyes grew wide.<br>"You fancy James, don't you?" Alice shrieked.  
>"Alice!" she hissed, darting her eyes around the hall nervously. Thankfully, most eyes had been averted from her now that James had left. "Someone might hear you!"<br>"So it's true!" Alice gasped, and sat down facing Lily.  
>"Well I wouldn't say I exactly fancy him..." she drifted off at Alice's skeptical expression.<br>"Okay, fine, I might, I don't know!" Lily exclaimed, blushing horribly.  
>"You do." Alice declared, giving Lily a pitying look. "I told you, didn't I? I told you to never say you would never like him, because this would happen. And now it did!"<br>Lily groaned and put her head in her hands. "I don't want to fancy him though, Alice!" she moaned. "It's so embarrassing!" She felt Alice pat her shoulder soothingly.  
>"It's all right, hun. No one can fault you. That boy is <em>fine<em>." Lily couldn't stop the jealously that rose in her. She suddenly felt very possessive of James. Alice laughed at her friend's conflicting expression.  
>"Don't worry, Lily." Alice said reassuringly. "I have someone else."<br>"Speaking of that!" Lily said, desperately trying to change the subject. "How have you and Frank been doing?" She knew that Alice saw right through her, but she simply made a face and said,  
>"Well, he has yet to ask me out, but it's only a matter of time before he actually understands one of my hints!" Alice rolled her eyes. "He's so oblivious." Lily shook her head. "Why don't you ask him out?"<p>

"I'm too scared." Alice admitted.  
>"Oh come, on Alice." Lily grinned, "You know he likes you. I'm one hundred percent sure he'd say yes if you asked him to Hogesmade."<br>Alice grinned wickedly. "I'll ask Frank if you ask James."  
>"What?" Lily cried. "That's not fair!"<p>

"Why not?"

"It's just not!"

Alice sighed. "Well, James will probably ask you to Hogsmade anyways..."  
>Lily bit her lip. "Yeah... I don't think he will, actually…" Alice looked her appraisingly.<br>"What did you do?"

"I sort of… made him agree that he wouldn't ask me out or flirt with me for the rest of the school year."  
>Alice slapped her own forehead. "Merlin, Lily! This is what you get for being such a stubborn fool! You finally realize you'd be perfect together, but only after you ban him from flirting with you or asking you out?"<br>"Er." Lily said meekly. "Yes?"  
>Alice just sighed and shook her head. "Well Frank and I are meeting on the pitch so we can watch the match together. You want to come?"<br>"Yeah, I'll come." Lily said dreamily, the image of James's brilliant eyes in the forefront of her mind.  
>"You've got it bad, Lily." Alice noted. Lily said nothing, but it was true.<br>She was falling for James. Badly.

**Again, like I said, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. To me, personally, it seems a little stilted... sort of... impersonal... but I will probably come back and revise it, yet again. Love you all, and please review! Good or bad comments are welcome! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, everyone! Sorry I've been so slow with updating. I was in New York City for a while, and my mind was having difficulty getting in the state of mind necessary for writing. You know, it's strange. New York is like the epitome of creative arts, and I couldn't write while I was there or for a week after I came home. Hmm... but anyways, I'll try to get the Quaffle rolling again. **

**By the way, this chapter is more Quidditch then James and Lily. Quidditch matches are tough to depict, I hope I did alright!**

**As always, _please_ review, I love to hear your thoughts at all times, good or bad! Thanks again to all who have reviewed so far, I love you all! And I'll say it again, even if you're reading this and the story is already finished, I still want to hear your comments!**

Chapter 9

James walked onto the field to the thunderous roar of the crowd's cheering, chanting, and jeering. The icy November air blew straight through James's Quidditch robes, making him shiver. He gripped his Nimbus tightly in one hand, and approached the Slytherin captain in the middle of the pitch. The lanky Slytherin keeper, Casper Bletchley, had pointy facial features and devilish charcoal eyes that matched his fiery attitude towards Quidditch.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch ordered them. They shook hands, Beltchley making a fair attempt at crushing James's hand. James didn't wince, but simply dug a finger into a pressure point between the blonde's knuckles. Bletchley flinched violently and withdrew his hand as though he'd been burnt. James smirked lazily.  
>"And this year's lineup for the Gryffindor team!" Announced the familiar voice of Dedalus Diggle, "McKinnon, Black, Vance, Potter, Prewett, Fenwick, aaannddd... Tonks!" James looked up at the commentator's podium. The pale, excitable, fourth year usually commentated for the Quidditch matches. Though he was prone to insulting the Slytherins, he was fairer than most of the other students, which is why he got the job.<br>"And the Slytherin team's lineup is... Bletchley, Malfoy, Rosier, Vaisey, Wilkes, Higgs... aaanndd Black!" James could hardly hear the Slytherin's cheers over the booing of the rest of the school.  
>"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch ordered, getting onto her own after releasing the balls. "We've got this one." James called back to his team determinedly. Now it was just the team, his broom, and the Quaffle. Nothing else mattered but getting that ball through the hoops.<br>"Three!" Madam Hooch called loudly, "Two! One!"

The Quaffle was centerfield, floating above their heads. James pushed off as hard as he could, shooting after it. He grabbed it a mere second before Abraxas Malfoy could, whose fingernails actually scabbed the back of James's hand in his desperate attempt to gain possession. James tucked it under his arm and sped off toward the Slytherin end of the pitch.  
>"And Potter in possession, oh, looks like he just passed it to Vance, no, now Black has it. Back to Black, try saying that ten times fast, folks… Back to Black, back to Black, back to Black… sorry, anyways, Vance, pass back to Potter, they're nearing the Slytherin hoops… and was that another pass? Wait, who has the Quaffle?" Suddenly the sound of wild mirth rose from the Gryffindors.<br>"10-0 to Gryffindor!" McGonogall shouted angrily at Dedalus. "You're the one supposed to be telling us!"  
>"Oh, okay, who...?"<br>"Potter scores!" McGonogall shouted loudly into his microphone. The crowd laughed.  
>"And James Potter scores!" Dedalus exclaimed, trying to recover. "10-0 to Gryffindor!" James whooped as he raced back toward the Gryffindor hoops. He watched the Quaffle soar over his head as Rosier retrieved the ball and threw it to Vaisey. James put on a spurt of speed and bumped Vaisey, causing him go drop the Quaffle. Emmeline caught it skillfully, and passed it back to Sirius. Suddenly, a large object that felt strangely like a boulder slammed into James's side. Rosier. He spun off course, clutching his broom for dear life.<br>"And is that a penalty for Gryffindor?" Dedalus asked, looking at Madam Hooch. "I guess not!" he shrugged as the whistle failed to sound. The Gryffindors angrily howled in response.

"Vance seems to have lost the Quaffle to Vaisey, yes, Vaisey has the Quaffle, who doesn't seem to have a problem with pushing girls around, mind you, he passes it to Malfoy, Malfoy passes it to Rosier. Looks like Potter is trying to regain possession of the Quaffle, he's closing in…" James was neck and neck with Rosier; he couldn't let him get a clear shot at Marlene.

"The Slytherin chasers are nearing the Gryffindor hoops, Rosier still in possession, looks like he's going to shoo—OH! James Potter intercepts!" James had zoomed in front of Rosier just as he shot at Marlene, and caught the Quaffle before it was even in the Keeper's zone. "Potter in possession again…" Dedalus said cheerfully. The chasers from Slytherin and Gryffindor battled for a while over possession. Emmeline nearly scored, but Wilkes shot a well-aimed bludger at her, causing her to drop the Quaffle. Abraxas Malfoy had a near miss on the Gryffindor hoops, but thanks to Marlene's impressive keeping skills, prevented Slytherin from catching up.  
>"Ooh! Close call there," Diggle called out, after nearly ten minutes of no one scoring. "Gregory Higgs aims a bludger at Tonks, who avoids it narrowly..."And it appears that Fenwick is retaliating.. yes, Fenwick has hit his target, Higgs takes a bludger to stomach." James could barely hear Diggle's commentary over the whistle of the wind in his ears as he zipped across the pitch.<br>"Potter in possession again, do you think Bletchley will let another one in?" James leaned forward on his broom, the Quaffle in one hand. He raced straight towards Bletchley, who was guarding the middle hoop, watching James like a hawk. James felt like laughing as he watched the determination on the Keeper's face turn to horror as James threw the Quaffle to Sirius at the very last second before turning upwards ninety degrees literally inches in front of the Keeper. Sirius chucked the Quaffle through the hoop as Bletchely let out a very girlish scream and flinched violently.  
>"What strategy!" Diggle's voice resonated around the pitch. "Incredible shot by Sirius Black and James Potter! 20-0 Gryffindor!" The Slytherins were seething from getting behind so quickly. James knew it was only a matter of time before they started cheating.<br>"Now Axabras Malfoy has possession, he's off toward the Gryffindor end... nice block, there Vance! And yes, Malfoy has lost possession to Black! The Gryffindor chasers are doing bloody well today!" The Slytherins hissed in protest.  
>"Black in possession drops it to Potter, passes up to Vance." Dedalus was having a hard time keeping up with the blurred switches in possession, which is exactly what they were hoping for. "Black, Potter, Vance, Potter, Black, Vance, Black!" Diggle exclaimed in one breath. "They're approaching the hoops aaannd... VANCE SCORES!"<br>Bletchley had dived for the Quaffle, but missed by centimeters. A majority of the crowd cheered loudly.  
>"30-0 Gryffindor!" Diggle declared. "This some of the fastest chaser work I've ever seen! And Gryffindor is ahead by thirty points twelve minutes into the game!" James was right, the Slytherins were seething, and started resorting to dirty tactics.<br>"Now Potter's in possession again... THAT WAS CHEATING, YOU BLASTED IDIOT!"  
>"Mr. Diggle!" McGonogall shouted. "This is supposed to be an unbiased commentary!"<br>"All right, all right, keep your hair on." Diggle waved her down. "But honestly, did you see that?" Wilkes had indeed chucked his beater's bat at James as hard as he could, to prevent him from scoring. Lucky for the Gryffindors, James had swerved so that it had only nicked his elbow, but that certainly didn't prevent him from being angry. The whistle blew.  
>"And that's a penalty to Gryffindor," Diggle said. "Maybe if Wilkes could read he would know that throwing your bat at a chaser is completely illegal."<br>"Diggle." McGonogall warned him.  
>"Sorry, Professor. Anyway, Vance is making the shot for Gryffidor, let's see if she makes it... she's nearing the right hoop, aaannnndddd... SCORE! That was a close one, I though Bletchley was going to actually catch the Quaffle! Wouldn't that be the day?" James privately thought that Diggle wasn't doing a very good job at an impartial commentary as he slapped Emmeline a high five.<br>"DIGGLE, STOP ABUSING THE SLYTHERINS AND GET ON WITH THE MATCH!" McGonogall shrieked. Diggle ignored her.  
>"Anyways, 40-0 Gryffindor. Great shot, Vance."<br>As the Gryffindors pulled further and further ahead, they Slytherin's tactics became increasingly more violent. By the time Gryffindor was seventy points ahead, Sirius had been clothes-lined, Marlene had been hit by a bludger (an unprovoked, illegal attack on the Keeper), and Vaisey actually had the nerve to steal Fabian's beater's bat right out of his hands.  
>"And Slythein is now eighty points behind!" Dedalus announced twenty minutes into the game. "They could still win, though, if Regulus Black can catch the snitch before Nymphadora can!"<br>Tonks whizzed by the commentator. "Don't call me that!" she bellowed.  
>"Sorry!" Dedalus laughed. "I meant Tonks, folks, Tonks." James ducked under Wilkes's bludger and zoomed toward Vaisey, who had the Quaffle in one hand insecurely. He put on a spurt of speed and knocked it out of Vaisey's grasp. Sirius caught the flyaway Quaffle expertly and raced toward the Slytherin's left hoop. James dropped below his mate and Emmeline stayed level with Sirius. They tossed it back and forth a few times, just to confuse Bletchley.<br>"Vance, Black, Vance, Black," Dedalus chanted quickly. "Vance, Black, Vance, Black, Van- no, Potter- SCORE!" The Gryffindors cheered wildly. "POTTER SCORES! 90-0 Gryffindor!" As James spun away from the Slytherin hoops, the crowd gasped as a whole.  
>"What's this?" Diggle exclaimed. Tonks had dived straight at Evan Rosier. He screamed and careened out of her way as she flew towards him like a bullet. She plummeted faster and faster towards the ground, her hand stretching forward. Was this a Wronskei Feint, or the real thing? "Tonks is diving! I think she's really seen the snitch! Black is on her tail, but I don't know if he'll be fast enough..."<br>Tonks grabbed at the air for a moment, then punched her fist in the air, victoriously clutching the snitch.  
>"TONKS HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS, 240 to 0!" The crowd went wild. James and the rest of the team shot towards Tonks and engulfed her in a midair hug, cheering and grinning triumphantly. They had won their first match! And by two hundred and forty points! The team flew to the ground, clapping backs and congratulating each-other.<br>"One of the fastest matches I've seen in a while!" Dedalus commented mildly. "And what a wash-out, too! If Gryffindor wins the next match by the same margin, their name will most definitely be on that cup this year!"  
>"To the locker room, team!" James grinned. They marched into the locker rooms, waving regally to the crowd as they left.<br>"Great job today, everyone, really great job." James congratulated them heartily once they had settled down a bit.  
>"Oh yeah, I did so much." Marlene said sarcastically. "What did I save? Two goals? Not even?" The team laughed. "Well it's not your fault the Slytherin's chasers are terrible." Benji said encouragingly.<p>

"And it's not your fault we have three outstanding chasers!" Fabian added kindly.  
>"And Tonks," James addressed his seeker. The team broke out in cries of exaltation. "Amazing catch, really amazing!" She grinned sheepishly. "Thanks, guys. Regulus isn't much of a seeker. It wasn't that hard."<br>"All right, shower up everyone." James told his team. "If we can play the whole season like this, we've got the cup in the bag." They all nodded in agreement and trouped off to the showers, chatting enigmatically about how much they hated the Slytherins. After they showered, they had the rest of the Saturday free to do what they wished, so most of the team headed back up to Gryffidor tower. All except James, who wanted nothing more than to go up to the Head dorms and be with Lily, which surely meant studying. He ambled up the many staircases in peace, thinking he should send an owl to his parents and tell them about the match. His mum would be proud, but his father would be mad with excitement. If only his dad could come for the matches… he would really love it…. James was just down the hall from the Head's common room when he saw a part of the wall shift in his peripheral vision. He froze, and slipped a hand into robe pocket slyly. He had been expecting this for days.  
>"Mulciber." He said smoothly, gripping his wand tightly. Silence, then…<br>"Confund-"  
>"Protego!" There was a whooshing sound, then a thump as a large opaque object slammed into the wall.<br>"Finite Incantatum!" James waved his wand vaguely in the direction of the noise. The disillusionment charm lifted as Mulciber appeared, slumped against the wall, his dark hair in disarray.  
>"Trying to confound me, Mulciber?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.<br>"You blasted git!" Mulciber growled angrily. "Conjunctivi—"  
>"Tarantallegra Rictusempra!" James pointed his wand at Mulciber idly. Mulciber's body gave an odd jolt upwards and starting dancing the tango with an invisible partner. He then started laughing uncontrollably, most likely because James had also hit him with a tickling spell.<br>Lily suddenly appeared from around the corner, book in hand, and looked at Mulciber, thoroughly nonplussed. She opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. Mulciber was bent over, heaving with laughter, but his legs were carrying him in odd directions incongruent with his upper body. James smiled at her brightly.  
>"Hullo, Lily."<br>"Hey, James. Having fun?"  
>"Oh yes."<br>"Sectumsem-" Mulciber choked, aiming his wand at Lily.  
>"Expelliarmus!" Lily disarmed Mulciber quicky, no longer smiling. In fact, the expression on her face was rather frightening. Mulciber's wand flew out of his hand and clattered to the floor a good ways down the hall. "Finite Incantatum." Lily said, nostrils flared. He stopped dancing and laughing, but was harmless without his wand.<br>"A hundred points from Slytherin for attacking both the head boy and girl, Mulciber." Lily scowled at him angrily. He glared at her. She returned his glare, looking livid.  
>"You think I give a damn about house points, Evans?" He heaved, still bent over and rubbing his stomach. "You think house points matter in the long run?" She just looked at him coldly. "You know what does matter, Evans?" he sneered. "Blood status. And you're a filthy mudblood, so we'll see who's winning points in the en-"<br>"Avis Oppugno!" Lily shrieked.  
>"Incarcerous!" James shouted at the same time. In a blur, ropes and birds flew out the two's wands, and attacked Mulciber. James's ropes wrapped themselves tightly around Mulciber's body, while the small, innocent looking birds pecked at every bit of skin they could find. Mulciber bellowed in pain and fell face-first to the floor. The birds continued to peck at the back of his neck and head viscously as be struggled against his bonds. James looked at Lily mildly.<br>"Good one."  
>"Thanks, you too." she grinned, and headed back to their dorms. James turned on his heel and left Mulciber writhing on the ground.<br>"Someone will find him soon enough." He shrugged. Shouts of, "YOU RUDDY ARSEHOLES! MUD-BLOOD! B—"

"What was that spell he tried to use on you?" James asked curiously, closing their painting to muffle Mulciber's swearing.

"Sectumsempra." She said, scowling.

"I've never heard of it."

"It's dark magic." She said shortly. "I wouldn't suggest ever trying it out."

"Well, Mulciber tried to use it on you... we're supposed to report all serious misconduct to Dumbledore or McGonogall. If it's really a bad spell…" He drifted off, concerned. It was a good thing Lily was such a talented witch. If she'd been any slower…

"No!" she said, for some reason looking very pale all of the sudden. "I'm fine. No harm done." She said quickly.

"All right then." James said, puzzled by Lily's strange behavior.  
>"Congratulations on the match, by the way." Lily said, returning to her seat by the fire. "You guys were spectacular. I can't believe we won by two hundred and forty points!"<br>"Oh, thanks." James beamed at her. "I almost can't believe it either!"  
>"Tonks did really well, didn't she?" Lily said, looking impressed. "Especially for her first match..."<br>"She was fantastic." he agreed, taking a seat by her. "Studying?" he asked mildly.  
>"What else is there to do on a November Saturday?" she asked rhetorically.<br>"Mind if I join you?"  
>"What, no celebration party?" she gave a small smile and pushed her hair back from her face like she always did.<br>"I don't know." James shrugged. "Probably. I wasn't in the mood."  
>"But you're in the mood for studying?" she asked him doubtfully, raising an eyebrow at him.<em> In the mood for you<em>, thought James.  
>"Sure." He grabbed his incomplete Transfiguration essay and <em>Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration<em>. He could feel Lily's eyes on him as he flipped open the book and began writing. They studied and wrote in silence for a while, the grandfather clock ticking by the time at a leisurely pace, and the peaceful sound of the scratching of a quill on fresh parchment. James had nearly finished his essay when Lily asked suddenly,  
>"Is Transfiguration your favorite subject?" James looked up, a little surprised. Lately she had been asking him a lot of questions about himself, which was strange. It was almost as though she was genuinely interested in him. But then there were those odd moments were she suddenly became sharp and mysterious. She was impossible to figure out.<br>"Er. Yeah, it is." he said honestly.  
>"Why?"<br>James thought hard for a moment, and tousled his freshly washed hair.  
>"When I got my wand from Ollivander's, I was told my wand would be powerful in the art of Transfiguration." James said, thinking. "So I kind of came to Hogwarts thinking I'd be good at it, and I don't know, I guess I was kind of good at it. You know, a person usually likes doing what their good at..." She nodded thoughtfully.<br>"That makes sense."  
>"And you're wand is especially good for charm work." he told her matter-of-factly. "That's one of the reasons why charms is your favorite subject." She frowned at him.<br>"Yes, it is."  
>"And it's ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, and made of... willow?" He guessed. She just shook her head. He grinned at her expression. "So it is willow! I knew it! I thought it might be maple, but willow suits you better. It's sort of a beautiful, elegant wood, isn't it?"<br>"Why do you... watch me so much?" she asked, her lips twisted into a sheepish sort of smile.  
>"I find you fascinating." he said, shaking himself slightly as he started getting lost in her gaze.<br>"Why, though? Why me?" her brow furrowed. "There are hundreds of other fascinating girls at Hogwarts!"  
>"I don't know." James said honestly. "I just- I - I love everything about you, Lily, but I couldn't tell you why." A beautiful, rosy glow tinted her cheeks at this remark. It was true. He loved every bit of her. Her blushes, her snappy remarks, her furrowing brow and disproving expressions. Her long, shiny, dark red hair, intense green, almond-shaped eyes and bright smile, her freckles, her purple-striped pajama pants... All of her made his heart throb in his chest. He loved her. It was as simple as that.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

**Heh... heh. Hi guys... So it's been a while.**

** I know, and I'm sorry! Life is just insane, as I'm sure you all know. (Unless you're twelve or younger, than you're probably just clueless.) I won't bother you with my plenteous and lame excuses, just read and enjoy! To make it up to you, a little bit, though, this chapter is around twice as long as my previously longest chapter! **

** Please review! Reviews really do help me update faster. Sometimes I just need a nudge! Thank-you for reading and again, my apologies! Also, since I wrote this on my Ipod it is in the weirdest format, so please forgive the awkward paragraphing.)**

Chapter 10

Lily awoke to the sunshine caressing her face lightly through her window. Smiling to herself, she rolled out of bed, yawning and stretching out her legs. Her ankles and knees cracked loudly as she stood. She glanced at the large package by her bedside. She looked away. Then she looked at the package again. What? She certainly didn't remember it being there when she went to bed. It was a lumpy sort of package, wrapped with white gift paper, and there was a small piece of parchment attached to the green ribbon around it.  
>She picked it up and read the note quietly to herself.<br>"Lily," it read in James's recognizably fine, loopy print. "You brighten my day every time I see you. I simply wish to brighten  
>yours. With love, James." She unwrapped the package eagerly, her heart thumping erratically. What could James have gotten her? She tore away the wrappings to reveal a box of great, fat, Chocoballs with strawberry mousse and clotted cream; a long, thin box full of her favorite sugar quills topped with a single daisy. There was also a box of lemon tea bags and a large piece of what appeared to be blank parchment. She picked up the parchment and gasped in surprise. As soon as her skin made contact with the parchment, thin ink<br>lines began to spread like a convoluted spider web from the point of contact. Colors blossomed across the center of the page, then with increasing speed they started forming a shape, as though an invisible artist was sketching on the parchment over her shoulder. She watched as the lines of ink slowly transformed into a girl that was unmistakably her. It was beautiful; the colors and shading were  
>precise and incredibly realistic. She was curled up on an armchair by the fire in the drawing, reading a book. She realized that James had duplicated her perfectly, down to the holes in her ratty old sweats she wore at the time. She must've been so absorbed in her<br>book that she didn't even realize James had been sketching her. A ridiculously large grin spread over her face as his signature scratched itself out on the bottom right corner of the paper.  
>He had drawn this, for her. She knew she would keep it forever as she hopped up from her bed and started dancing around her dorm. She couldn't help it! She was just so happy! She jumped up and down a couple of times, mentally screaming and doing her best not to laugh out loud. She twirled around the room for a minute and then collapsed back onto her bed, gazing at her picture lovingly. She hugged it to her chest gently, and hung it up on the wall next to her bed. She admired it for a while,<br>thinking of the effort James must have put into not only drawing it for her,  
>but for doing those special little charms on it too... He'd even gone<br>through the trouble of submerging it in photo potion so that it moved! She covered her mouth with her hands to keep from squealing. _I have to find James and thank him_, she thought._ But maybe I should brush my teeth first._

* * *

><p>Lily flew down the hall twenty minutes later, skidding to a stop in front of James's door. She was freshly showered, clothed,<br>and teeth thoroughly brushed, heart beating inexplicably fast. She raised a hand to James's door and knocked gently. The door opened. James stood there, looking, as usual, glorious in jeans and olive colored t-shirt. His pitch hair was ruffled even more than usual, still damp from the shower and his eyes were a sparkling emerald color, reflecting the tone he was wearing today. She beamed and threw her arms around his neck. He froze, startled, for a second before twining his arms around her waist and pulling her to his chest. Her heart thudded against his loudly. It was the first time she'd ever truly been with James like this. It felt so right; it was as if this space in his arms existed simply for the purpose of her holding her. She just wished she never had to let go.  
>"And to what do I owe this<br>pleasure?" James asked huskily, his breath tickling her ear.  
>"Your present." she breathed in reply, trying to inhale as much of his scent as possible. His fresh pine-scented body wash and aftershave were still fresh on his clear, clean skin. Being so close to him was intoxicating.<em> Let go, Lily, don't be a fool!<em> her brain screamed at her.  
>"Did you like it?" he smiled as she reluctantly pulled away from him. For a second she stiffened, thinking he was referring to thier embrace, but a moment too late she realized he meant his gift.<p>

"Y-yes." she stuttered. The picture is beautiful. You're an incredible artist."

"Thanks." He said modestly, smiling down at her. She realized she was still only a few inches from him. She could still smell him. It was very distracting.  
>"Chocoballs, sugar quills, the tea, the daisy?" she asked, attempting to control her mind's wild thoughts. "Where did you get all that stuff?"<br>He looked at his watch.

"It's only 6:30, so I think I have time to show you..." he said thoughtfully.  
>"What?" Lily asked.<br>"We'll just have to make it a short trip." James nodded to himself. "And I'd suggest a cloak." She cocked her head at him inquisitively,  
>but he merely shooed her off to her room. She flew back into her room, grabbed a cloak and a hat for good measure, and flew back out to James, who was leaning against the wall outside her doorway, looking like a male model. It pained her to admit that she'd jump into the Black Lake if it meant being with James.<br>"You're a bit high strung today, aren't you?" James smiled down at her.  
>"Just a tidbit full of energy." she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Where are we going?"<br>"You'll see." He said, rolling his eyes at her impatience. "Come on." He led her down the spiraling staircase and through their painting, then headed downwards, James muttering to himself. "One eyed witch or mirror? The witch leads right  
>into Honeydukes, which surely isn't open at this ungodly hour... but fourth floor mirror... could risk getting caught, but it's shorter, so in actuality, it might be safer..."<br>"Are you talking to yourself?" Lily asked quizzically.  
>"Yes." he replied, unashamed. "Talking to yourself is a valid way to problem solve."<br>"Or a valid way to convince me that you're mad." she replied. He chuckled.  
>"Best of both worlds, then."<br>"Where are we going?"  
>"My out-loud problem solving has determined that we are going to the fourth floor." he declared. They jogged down a set of stairs, only to hear Peeves down the hall, singing a rude rendition of the school song.<br>"HOGWARTS, HOGWARTS, DIRTY, SMELLY HOGWARTS-"  
>James grabbed her hand and dragged her into the nearest broom closet. He looked down at her apologetically once the<br>door was shut behind them. "Sorry about this." he said in a whisper, indicating the minimal space between them. "Running into Peeves  
>could deter our mission." She could still hear Peeves singing as he passed their hiding place. She and James were almost chest to chest in the tight space. The top of her head barely reached James's chin, so she looked up at him.<br>"It's okay." she whispered back. "I don't mind." She mentally slapped herself as a smirk spread  
>across James's face. "I didn't - oh, you know what I meant." He chuckled softly.<br>"I think we're safe to leave now." he said, peeking out the broom closet door. "Unless..." he raised his eyebrows suggestively, "you'd rather stay here..." She huffed, and strode out of the broom cupboard, her dignity somewhat impaired by getting her foot caught on the handle of a wooden bucket. "Oops, sorry." James covered his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. "I forgot, no flirting."  
>"Strike one, you get a warning." she said. He grinned at her pathetic attempt to look stern.<br>"Come on, then." They strode down the corridor, took a left, a right, and went down another hallway. James came to a halt in front of a large, ornate mirror hanging on the wall, looking slightly out of place among all the paintings.  
>"Hullo Mr. Potter." a pallid, weary looking wizard with wispy white hair greeted him from a neighboring painting.<br>"Hey, Edrick." James greeted the man nonchalantly.  
>"This is the first time you've taken a girl out of the castle..." The wizard looked at Lily dolefully with his dull gray eyes.<br>"We're going out of the castle?" She asked incredulously.  
>"Ah, so you're kidnapping her." the old wizard said wisely.<br>"I'm not kidnapping her." James rolled his eyes and ran his fingers along the right edge of the mirror.  
>"Then why doesn't she know where you're going?" the wizard asked faintly, not really sounding interested. A faint click sounded<br>from the side of the mirror.  
>"See you later, Edrick." James said as the mirror swung open to reveal a passage. James's head turned right and left, searching for awry students, grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her through carefully, then closed the mirror behind them. The passage was dimly lit by flickering torches, glinting off the glossy stones that tiled the walls of the passage. It was tall enough so that James could stand up straight, but she knew if he raised a hand he could touch the top of it easily. They looked at each other through the dim firelight.<br>"This is cool." she said breathily, acutely aware that James's hand was still enveloping hers. He smiled crookedly at her.  
>"Shall we go on, then?" he asked, eyeing her with an almost wary expression. It may have been nothing, but it seemed to her that there was a slight double meaning in his words.<br>"We shall." She couldn't help but smile wryly back at him. They set off down the passage at a leisurely pace in silence, but she was sure their thoughts were on the same wavelength. She was holding hands with James Potter. And enjoying it. And praying that he wouldn't let go. She should do something, to make sure he knew she didn't want him to let go of her.  
>But did she want him to know that?<br>He liked her, right?  
>Or was he just a flirt?<br>Did he just like a challenge, and once she fell for him he would leave her broken-hearted in the dust?  
>James's words echoed around in her head as she surveyed every contour of his beautiful face.<br>"_If you're not ready for a __break-up, you're not ready for a relationship. But when you find the one you'd __die for in a heart-beat, jump in with everything you have._"  
>Would she die for James?<br>Sure, they had become friends… but would she die for him? She tried to imagine if Voldemort emerged from the shadows and pointed his wand at James right now. Would she jump in front of him and take the Avada Kedavra?  
><em>I would<em>, she thought, as she looked at James out the corner of her eye._ I couldn't let such an innocent, kind, gentle__, person die._ She gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of James lying spread-eagle on the ground, lifeless. _I couldn't._

She laced her fingers through his so that they were more securely attached. He flashed her a wide grin, and squeezed her hand gently.  
>"Are we going to be back in time for classes?" she asked, squeezing his in return.<br>"We might have to jog back." he shrugged. "But we'll make it." There was a long moment's silence.  
>"James?"<br>"Mhm?"  
>"Can you tell me about yourself?" she blurted out the words without really thinking. He looked at her thoughtfully.<br>"Why?"  
>"Because a perfectly acceptable way to get to know someone is to ask that question." she said, hoping he<br>couldn't see her blush in the dim lighting.  
>"Hmm." he said, thinking. "What kinds of things do you want to know?"<em> Anything, everything. I just want to listen to your voice<em>.  
>"What was the scariest moment of your life?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly.<br>"Oh, Merlin." James raked his free hand through his hair. "Hmm... there's been a lot of things over the  
>years..." he wrinkled his nose. "Oh, I know! This is not the most interesting thing, or the most daring, or stupidest thing I've ever done, but it was easily the most terrifying moment of my life. So. It's like this." his eyes glinted mischievously as he began his tale. "It's<br>first year, right? Me, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were all young, carefree, and innocent,"  
>Lily snorted.<br>"Well, for the most part." he shrugged. "So we discovered this secret passageway on the sixth floor,  
>behind that portrait of Otis the Oddball. And we're walking down the passageway,<br>thinking it will lead to the grounds or something, when we end up in  
>McGonogall's office!" She looked at him in surprise.<br>"Why would there be a secret passageway into McGonogall's office?" she asked disbelievingly.  
>"I'm thinking that Dumbledore uses it for their little secret nighttime visits." James nodded seriously. She laughed.<br>"Okay, go on."  
>"So we walk in, all excited to see where it had led, and right there is McGonogall herself, sleeping at<br>her desk! So we're just going to turn around quietly, and leave before she caught us. Easy enough, right?"  
>"And...?"<br>"And then Peter tripped and fell into her rubbish bin." Lily gasped.  
>"She gave this funny sort of spasm, and sat straight up, her eyes wide and glossy looking as though she'd been Imperiused." James said, shuddering. "She rose out of her chair, and started walking towards us, drool dripping down her chin." Lily couldn't help but scoff. She highly doubted McGonogall had ever drooled in her entire life.<br>"No, honestly, you should have seen her, Lils, it was like she was in a trance or something!" James looked at her with wide,  
>honest eyes.<br>"What was wrong with her?"  
>"She was sleepwalking!" James cried. "It was the most terrifying moment of my life! Imagine McGonogall coming after you while she's asleep!" he shuddered again. Lily's laugh reverberated off the stone walls; she knew it must have been horrifying for the<br>group of eleven year olds.

"Sleepwalking people freak me out too." she admitted. "Did you know that sleepwalking is considered a disorder?"  
>"Did you know that having nightmares is considered a disorder?" James countered.<p>

"Well that brings my total number of disorders up to two." she muttered, scratching the back of her head.  
>"You sleepwalk and have nightmares?" James asked, looking at her with concerned eyes.<br>"Yes." she said, blushing. "But I hardly ever sleep walk anymore... Madam Pomfrey has me taking a  
>mild sleeping draught every night. Sometimes, it doesn't help with the nightmares though." she shuddered.<br>"What do you have nightmares about?" James asked, squeezing her hand again.  
>"Usually about Voldemort." she admitted, very distracted by James's fingers, which seemed<br>to mold to hers perfectly. "Sometimes I dream that he's taken over the Wizarding world and he's the new headmaster of Hogwarts..." she decided not to mention that Severus usually posed as a Death Eater in these dreams, bowing at Voldemort's feet. "Usually I dream that he kills off all the muggleborns at Hogwarts one by one. Sometimes, in my dream, I run into the room of requirement, to hide, but when I go in, it's a maze, and follows me, I can hear him chasing me, and I'm screaming, but no one can hear me... and then... I wake up." She stopped, embarrassed by her rambling. "They don't sound as scary  
>when I explain it out-loud."<br>"It sounds horrible." James said sympathetically. She smiled at him.  
>"It's all right. We'll make it through Voldemort's uprising. He's only a man, right? He has to die sometime." James bit his lip.<br>"That's the thing, Lils, I'm not sure he's even a man anymore."  
>"What else could he be?"<br>"I don't know." James sighed. "But that's what scares me the most." They walked quietly down the passage for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Their footsteps echoed, unnaturally loud in the lone tunnel. They glanced at each other occasionally through the dim  
>light of torches that lined the walls, exchanging somewhat exhilarated smiles.<br>"What do you want to do after school?" Lily asked suddenly. He looked at her thoughtfully.

"I'm thinking about being an Auror, but since my family is somewhat... er, well-off, I kind of hope to join the Order of the Pheonix." Lily knew the Order of the Pheonix was a non-profit organization that fought against Voldemort. The order wasn't considered part of the ministry, but they accepted anyone who was dedicated to fighting against the dark arts and able to help. "I can't think of anything  
>I'd rather do than fight against Voldemort." he said determinedly. "What do you want to do?"<br>"Pretty much the same thing. I need to fight to protect innocent muggleborns like me. I can't imagine a better way to do that than be in the Order, or be an Auror. In all honesty though," she whispered. "If I worked as an Auror I'd be too afraid that Voldemort would infiltrate the Ministry... So I'd rather work in the Order. Of course, my parents don't like the idea, since it's not a paying job,  
>and it would be dangerous..."<br>"Yeah, my parents aren't too keen on the idea of me joining the Order either." James nodded solemnly. "But they understand if that's what I need to do, I have to do it. They're very supportive."  
>"My parents are supportive, but they're muggles." Lily said, frowning. "They have a harder time<br>understanding the war that's waging against Voldemort right now. They don't see it like we do."  
>"Isn't it difficult?" he asked, frowning. "Having your parents being muggles and all? I mean, you sort of<br>live in different worlds..." She sighed.

"My parents are mostly okay.  
>They do their best to understand what the Wizarding world is like. They even get the Daily Prophet while I'm away at school so they can keep up with what's going on outside their non-magical realm. But my sister is where the problem lies."<br>James maintained a politely interested expression that kept her talking. "Jealousy and anger, separation... I think having one magically gifted child in the family mostly causes dissent among siblings." she sighed again. "I'm just glad I have only one sibling, so I'm not shunned by, say, four or five siblings that hate me because I get all of this," she motioned around to their surroundings. "while they're stuck at public school."  
>"Public school? James raised an eyebrow at her.<br>"It's school for muggle kids." she explained patiently. "But it's not like  
>Hogwarts, because you go there everyday, for several hours, and you go home<br>every evening." James looked startled.  
>"That's so strange!"<br>She laughed. "I suppose to you it would be."  
>"Here we are!" James said.<br>They seemingly had reached the end of the passageway. She wasn't sure how they were going to get out. The dirt and rock wall appeared to be very solid, but he pulled out his mahogany wand and tapped on the stone wall smartly. The stones wiggled and moved aside, creating a square hole in the wall. The light was almost blinding after the trip through the dank tunnel. James climbed through, ducking his head, and helped Lily through.  
>"Wow!" she said in awe, squinting from the sudden brightness of sun and snow. They were standing on the sloping ground that was usually used for observing the Shrieking Shack. She looked back at where they'd come from to see the hole rapidly closing on a inconspicuous hill on the land.<br>"Can you go back that way?" she asked.  
>"Yup." James replied.<br>"And this is the answer to your question."  
>"This is how you bought all that stuff?" she asked. "You just sneak out of school and wander<br>around Hogsmeade?"  
>"Basically." he nodded cheerfully. "So where do you want to go?"<br>"Oh, I don't know." she said, startled. "Where do you want to go?"  
>"Well, I, personally, am a bit hungry." he said, patting his flat stomach. "You in the mood for<br>breakfast?"  
>"Sure." she said easily.<br>"I know just the place." They strolled, hand in hand towards the bright village of Hogsmeade Lily was glad that James had told her to bring a cloak. The November air was icy, and the light dusting of snow cold beneath their feet. Everything looked so clean and beautiful in the morning. There were few people out due to the early hour, and the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, casting a pinkish hue upon the snow and reflecting off the glistening window panes of the shops.  
>"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she breathed softly. James turned to her as though he were going to say something, but seemingly changed his mind. She gave him a puzzled glance, but he merely flushed and continued to walk.<br>"Here we are." James said after a few minutes. They had reached a small diner with a large sign out front labeled, "Batty's Bewitching Bakery"  
>"I've never been here before." Lily commented mildly.<br>"I come down here for breakfast sometimes if I'm tired of school food." James said. She understood how  
>that could happen. "Here, they serve some stuff we don't<br>get up at school. I hope you like baked goods." James said, opening the door so that a bell tinkled softly over their heads as they entered. It was a very quaint sort of bakery; the smell of delicious pastries wafted over them the moment they stepped in. The pale yellow walls gave off a very homey and bright sort of atmosphere. There was a cheerful looking woman behind the counter with frizzy blonde hair, who was chatting animatedly with a pancake-eating man. The bistro wasn't busy, but an elderly couple sat  
>in a near corner, and from the sound of it, were arguing over a piece of toast. There was a group of middle-aged witches sitting gathered around a table, gossiping over a copy of Witch Weekly, and looking very out of place, two young<br>men dressed completely in jet-black dragonhide.  
>"I suppose you would prefer a seat<br>by the window?" James speculated, leading her over to a round, high table with two stools.  
>"How do you know everything?" she exclaimed in amazement. She did like to sit by windows. How he knew this,<br>though, she had no clue.  
>"I see, I listen." James said simply, pulling out a stool for her.<br>"Thank-you." she said politely as he softly released her hand and sat down across from her. She  
>wasn't tall enough that her feet touched the floor so she tucked her feet in-between the rungs of the chairs. A vase of bright yellow flowers sat in the center of the dark mahogany table with two menus. James picked up his and opened it. She followed suit. From the looks of it, they had every bread product imaginable: soft and buttery croissants, hazelnut puffs with whipped chocolate mousse,<br>choux pastries filled with light raspberry cream and gooseberry tarts powdered with sugar.  
>"What should I get?" she asked,<br>at loss. "There's so much to choose from!"  
>"Hmm." James eyes scanned the<br>menu. "Well, their crepes are good, the muffins are spectacular, and the French  
>toast is to die for." She looked over the menu again.<br>"I think I'll get a cranberry-orange muffin with vanilla glaze and  
>lemon zest." Lily said after she'd looked down the list. "I've never heard of that combination before, but it sounds splendid."<br>"Alright then." James set down his menu and cleared his throat. "One cranberry-orange muffin with tea and the strawberry crepes."  
>Two loaded plates appeared in front of them.<br>"Sorry, I should've asked if you wanted tea." James said apologetically. "But since you don't  
>drink coffee..."<br>"It's fine." she waved him off, wondering again, how he knew that. "Aren't you getting a drink?"  
>"Water please." James said to his menu clearly. An iced glass of water appeared in front of him.<br>"Cheers." he said, picking up his fork and digging into his plate of hot crepes. Lily picked up her own fork and cut her enormous muffin in half. Steam rose from the moist, pink hued center so the scent of orange and cranberry wafted over her. She took a bite and an array of colorful flavors exploded on her taste buds.  
>"Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed. "This is amazing!" James laughed at her wide-eyed expression.<br>"Do you want to tray a piece of crepe?"  
>"Sure," she said. James loaded his fork with the creamy strawberry crepe and waved it under her nose.<br>"Smell that?" he grinned. She inhaled the beautiful scent of fresh strawberries and sweet cream.  
>She took a bite off of his fork daintily. It was even better than she expected.<br>"That's really good." she said mildly. Her insides were exploding, though  
>she was sure it had nothing to do with the food. The plump witch from behind the counter<br>bustled over, smiling. "Hello my dears!" she  
>said, eyes sparkling. "I'm Batty. I own the place, but you should know that, since the sign out front is enormous! I wanted it smaller, but my son insisted. 'Big signs attract big business, Mum.' Well goodness me, maybe I don't want a big business, ever think of that, hmm? But I enjoy running the place. I love people and I love baking, why not open a bakery, right?" She said this all very fast. "Anyways, it's always good to see such young couples here," she beamed at them. "And so in love, too! Why, you two must be fresh out of school!" Lily balked.<br>"It does seem like just yesterday we  
>were students!" James smiled charmingly at her, not missing a beat.<br>"Darling, just darling…" the witch gave an exuberant nod. "So do you two have everything you need? Find anything  
>unsatisfactory?"<br>"Oh, no, we're great, thanks  
>Batty." James waved a hand airily. Lily didn't trust herself to speak; she<br>would probably just stutter and blush, so she just smiled and nodded like an idiot.  
>"All right, well let me know if you need anything, anything at all!" she gave them a heavily eye-shadowed wink and bustled off back to the counter.<br>Lily looked at James and blinked several times.  
>"She's friendly."<br>"Quite." James grinned. _Young couples so in love?_ She supposed that would be what they looked like from the outside. But what were they really? Lily starting eating her muffin again, and tried not to stare at James. It was difficult. With the bright sunlight reflecting off the snow, she could see each tiny line on his perfect face. All she wanted to do was gaze at him, and memorize every slope and ridge of his  
>visage. Of course, there were other ways to familiarize herself with the planes of his body... but that was an entirely different matter.<br>"Why are you looking at me like  
>that?" James asked, staring back at her self-consciously. She blushed.<br>"It's nothing, I just..." she sighed as she looked deeply into his eyes."It's just that you've... changed."  
>"That's a good thing, right?" he asked, his eyebrows high on his forehead.<br>"Yes." she said, grinning.  
>"Most definitely. I'm just wondering... what made you change?"<br>He took a sip of water and looked at her thoughtfully.  
>"A multitude of things, I suppose." he said finally, after taking a bite of crepe. "For one, I grew up." he sipped his water again. "I finally managed to get out of that egocentric stage of puberty where you think you're better than everyone else."<br>"It took long enough." She teased.  
>He stuck out his tongue at her.<br>"Still have some maturing to do, I see." she laughed.  
>"I suppose I do still have a ways to go." he shrugged. "But other than growing up, I just sort of realized<br>that hexing people for no reason was idiotic, that playing with that snitch was obnoxious," She nodded vigorously in agreement.  
>He chuckled, "and that I really am no better than anyone else."<br>"That's not true, though" Lily said without thinking. James looked bemused. "You – you are better," she said, trying to explain. "Better than a lot of people I know. You're really... a good person, on the inside... Even if it took a while to show on the outside." she said, flushing again. He looked at her with such a tender expression;  
>Lily thought she would melt into a puddle.<br>"So are you, Lils." he said after a moment. "You have this way of seeing the good in someone, sometimes when they can't even see it themselves." His eyes bored into hers. She couldn't blink. "I can't thank you enough." he said quietly.  
>"For how much you helped Remus. " his voice was slightly hoarse with emotion. It was incredible how much he really cared about his friends. "He thought no one, especially a woman would ever accept him, now or in the future. He thought he would never marry, or even date! He thought he could never, ever have a child. But you showed him that there are people out there, no matter how rare,<br>that will accept him. And I think it gave him hope for a real relationship with someone one day, just by being his friend." Lily gulped.  
>"I didn't realize I affected him that much." she said softly.<br>"That's what I mean, Lils." he smiled at her. "You don't even know the affect you have on people." He shook his head. "On everyone you come in contact with. You're incredible." his words seemed to seep into her very soul, banishing every stubborn, angry, and harsh part inside of her. She felt as though her soul cleansed by his very gaze. She took another bite of muffin, gazing out the window pensively. This was unbelievable. Here she was, on a crisp Monday morning, sitting at a restaurant eating breakfast with James. No matter how she looked at it, she could not get around the fact that this was a date. Or was it? He didn't technically ask her out on a date... so was it one? Or not? Jumping in, Lily, she reminded herself. Don't think technically.  
>"Thank-you." she smiled.<br>"You're welcome." he replied, eyes sparkling. "So now you know what changed in me... what about you?"  
>"What about me?" she asked, taken aback.<br>"Oh, come on, Lily. I'm not the only one who's changed." he looked at her expectantly.  
>"Fifth year, you were very, er...self-assured, somewhat irascible, and kind of..."<br>"Uncivilized, heartless, and  
>harsh?" she suggested, knowing all of these options were true when it came<br>to fifth year.  
>"Well, I mean, that's a little extreme..." James looked at the ceiling awkwardly. She laughed.<br>"No, I was, it's true." she sighed. "You were obnoxious, but I was cruel. Why did you even like me  
>then? I was a horrible person!"<br>"You weren't horrible." he said breezily. "But I really don't know, Lils, honestly." James's black hair became even more chaotic as he shook his head. "I've always been drawn to you. It's hard to explain." She looked at him intently. The gold in James's eyes flickered and glistened in the bright sunlight. He smiled crookedly at her. "I could get used to you looking at me like that, Lily. It's a lot better than this." He put on a grotesque expression in imitation of hatred. She laughed.  
>"I am pretty sure I've never made that facial expression in my entire life!"<br>she said defensively.  
>"Okay, how about this one." He scrunched up his nose as though he'd caught a whiff of dung and narrowed his<br>eyes at her.  
>"Admittedly, I may have made that expression at you before." she sighed in defeat. James dropped his haughty<br>imitation of her.  
>"Try every day for six years, Lily."<br>"Granted."  
>"You have to admit that was a good imitation." he smiled.<br>"I wouldn't know." she replied quirking an eyebrow at him. "I don't usually glare at myself in  
>the mirror."<br>"Really?" he grinned. "I was under the impression that all females spend as much time as possible in  
>front of a mirror."<br>"Not all females." she rolled her eyes, thinking of the past six years spent in the company of other teenage girls, "Though many."  
>"Why are girls so obsessed with their appearance?" James asked suddenly, his countenance earnestly bemused. Lily wrinkled her lips in thought. It was a good question that she'd often asked herself over the years.<br>"I suppose it's because in every girl -" she began, sharing the conclusion she had come to, "sometimes buried deeply inside, and sometimes shallowly planted for everyone to see - there's this want for attention, a longing to be coveted, a desire to be beautiful, and a need to be needed. We feel as though we can accomplish all of that by being physically alluring."  
>"Why though?" James asked, visibly struggling to understand. "Why do they try to get all those things through being pretty? Being beautiful doesn't last forever. Being beautiful doesn't make you successful or liked in the long run. Why is it so important?"<br>"Well," Lily said objectively. "Being attractive can get you places in life."  
>"How so?"<br>"Well, people aren't usually rude or impatient with you if they're marveling at your appearance." She shrugged. "You  
>get your way more often, especially when it comes to men, and doors swing wide open for you in life when you're glamorous and beautiful."<br>"Are you speaking from experience?" James's hazel eyes sparkled.  
>"No." she blushed. "Observational learning."<br>"You do know that you're beautiful, don't you?" James asked her, taking a bite of crepe.  
>Her insides abruptly shifted position. Of course, her whole life people had told her she was pretty. Her parents, her friends, even people in the food market or at her teachers at elementary school. Listening to people tell you one thing all your<br>life tends to make you believe it's true. I'm not overweight, she thought fairly. I  
>have nice skin and shiny hair and bright eyes. Sure I have flaws, but people aren't made to be perfect. She always thought that if everyone were perfect, everyone would look the same. There would be no character to appearances. She didn't mind that her bottom lip was a little too big for her top lip, that freckles were sprinkled across her skin, (so pale she was almost albino) or that her hips were wider than most of her friend's put together. That was just part of who she was. Without those little things, she would just be a pretty person with no personality.<br>"Mmm." she smiled vaguely. Did James really think she was beautiful? _Of course_  
><em>he does, she told herself. You've known that since fifth year<em>. But  
>then it didn't matter. She hadn't cared then. Now she did. So she had changed.<br>It was a very strange moment that she came to realize that. She had truly  
>changed these past couple of years. It wasn't only James.<br>"Well, you are." James said, watching her expression in interest. "Stunningly so."  
>"Thank-you." she said simply, unable to express the bubble of joy that had swelled over her heart. <em>So are you.<em>  
>"What?" James looked up from his food and stared at her, puzzled.<br>"Nothing." she muttered quickly. Blast it all, she had said that out loud? She took a large bite of muffin so he couldn't interrogate her. A large grin spread across James's face and he raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously. She blushed furiously and became  
>very focused on the task of stirring her tea. <em>You blithering fool,<em> she mentally abused herself. _You bloody idiot! Why can't you keep your mouth shut?_  
>"So..." she said, scrounging<br>for something else to talk about."Did you do your Transfiguration homework?" James rolled his eyes at her desperate subject change.  
>"Yes." he said "Did you?"<br>"No." she replied sheepishly. "I still can't get the hang of it." Currently in Transfiguration they were working on turning large pieces of furniture into animals, or more specifically, turning their class desks into farm animals. Lily was having a  
>lot of trouble getting past the house pet stage. She could easily turn her desk into a dog or cat, but when she tried a sheep or a cow, she usually ended up with an inanimate lump of wood.<br>"I could help you." James said. "I managed to turn my bed into a rhinoceros last night."  
>"You turned your bed into a rhinoceros?" Lily repeated weakly.<br>"Yup." James replied, looking proud of himself. "And I didn't even let it destroy anything!"  
>"Well." she said faintly. "That's... impressive. Where was I when you did this?"<br>"Sleeping?" James shrugged.  
>"What if it had rampaged through the walls and trampled me?" she asked.<br>James's brow furrowed. "I wouldn't let that happen." His countenance looked almost insulted. His voice was so honest, it was almost strange. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He would protect her.  
>Merlin, how long had it taken her so long to see the real man inside of James? The mature, protective, kind and sensitive man inside? She took another bite of muffin, feeling completely at peace with the world around her. This was her happy place. Here with James, stomach full, warm, and doing something rebellious. Oh yes, this was the life.<br>"Glad you came?" James asked, speculating her facial expression with ease.  
>"Yes." she replied honestly. "When do we have to go?" James looked at his watch.<br>"Five minutes ago."  
>"Well that's a problem."<br>"Indeed." he grinned and stood up. "I would suggest skiving off, but I know you won't, so we should  
>probably go."<br>"Okay, she said, polishing off the last of her breakfast and hopping off her stool. "I'm ready." She dug a hand in her pocket and  
>retrieved a pile of sickles. She was just reaching to set them on the table when a hand grabbed her wrist. Bloody hell, how did he do that? A second ago James had been sitting across the table, and suddenly his face was inches from hers, his warm fingers enclosed over her wrist. He raised an eyebrow at her.<br>"Yeah, I don't think so."  
>"Why not?" she asked breathlessly, staring into his endless eyes.<br>"Because."  
>"That's not a very good reason."<br>"Just let me." he said, in such a way that told her the subject was closed. Usually she would have been more stubborn about  
>things, but James's eyes were flickering in a manner that was very overpowering.<br>"Fine." she said at last. "But at least let me tip."  
>James glared at her. She glared back. The<br>corner of James's mouth twitched upward. She cracked a grin.  
>"Fine." James rolled his eyes,<br>exasperated. She threw down a few sickles and he left a Galleon on the table. James  
>took her hand again as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The bell<br>tinkled over their heads as they left the shop and Lily breathed in the crisp, cold air. They headed back up to the Shrieking Shack at a quick pace.  
>"Thanks for taking me to breakfast." Lily said cheerfully.<br>"My pleasure." James replied, smiling. "Didn't give you much of a choice, did I?"  
>"Not really." she shrugged. "But I enjoyed it all the same."<br>"Me too." James smiled down at her. It suddenly struck her how very tall he was. Tall and handsome. Not to mention muscular. She was a very lucky girl indeed. James checked his watch nervously. "I don't want to rush you," he said, "but we'd better hustle if we want to be on time." She lengthened her stride to match his, a slightly difficult feat, seeing how his legs were so much longer than hers.  
>"You're an only child, right?" Lily asked. It had occurred to her that James knew almost everything about her, but she knew so little about him.<br>"Yup." James said cheerfully.  
>"Do you ever wish you had siblings?" she asked curiously.<br>James shrugged. "Sometimes. More than once  
>I've wished that I had an older sister, to give me advice on, you know, how to woo the ladies and stuff."<br>"Woo the ladies?" Lily giggled, thinking that he was doing just fine even without a sister's advice.  
>He grinned. "Yeah... but I've always wished I had younger siblings too, to look after. I love kids, so I've kinda missed out on that aspect of life."<br>He loved kids? Of course he did. He was perfect.  
>"Do you want kids?" James looked at her expectantly.<br>"Mmhm." she said, nodding.  
>"How many?" James's eyes sparkled. "Eight? Ten?"<br>"Merlin, no." Lily laughed. "I think two or three would be good." James nodded.  
>"Three seems like a good number." Lily suddenly had a vision of a young boy - a boy with untidy black hair, tall and thin like James,<br>but with her green eyes. She shook herself. This was not a healthy train of thought.  
>"Sometimes I wonder what's going through<br>your head" James said, pulling out his wand. She flushed. As he whispered an incantation and the side of the hill opened up.  
>"Sometimes it's better if you don't know what other people are thinking." She said, following James into the passage.<br>"True." James conceded. "But it doesn't stop me from being curious."  
>Lily just gave a noncommittal hum.<br>"A knut for your thoughts?" James  
>offered.<br>"Just thinking about the future." she said half-truthfully. "Wondering if I even want to raise a child in such dark times. The ministry can pretend, but, I mean, we know Voldemort is this close," she indicated a tiny space with her fingers. "To infiltrating the ministry. What then? How are you supposed to raise children?"  
>"'Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light." James said<br>sagely. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Something Dumbledore said to me once," he said, shrugging. "But I find it to be true. The ministry, the Order, and Dumbledore are still fighting…" He looked deeply into her eyes.

"There's always hope. You just have to find it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi guys! I am really irked by the way fanfiction deletes all of my paragraphing. Is this normal? IT'S REALLY ANNOYING. Okay, sorry. And sorry I've been so slow, but this time I actually have the most valid excuse there is.  
>I was in Orlando, Florida, visiting Harry Potter Universal for the first time! Oh my Rowling. It was absolutely amazing! The Forbidden Journey, <em>so<em> worth waiting for, the butterbeer was delicious, and well, it was just indescribable. Already, I can't wait to go back. Oh, and I also visited my beautiful friend, MiscellaneousRhinos on the trip home. We watched A Very Potter Musical. It was odd. _  
><em>**

**Anyways, read, enjoy, and review! Honestly, the more reviews I get, the more I write. It would be lovely of you to do so. Please and thank-you!**

Chapter 11

Monday afternoon was somewhat painful for Lily. She couldn't focus, she couldn't eat. She was jittery and erratic all day, jumping at small sounds and day-dreaming in all of her classes instead of meticulously taking notes as usual. After coming back through the mirror on the fourth floor, Lily and James had raced to Transfiguration, where they miraculously were spared from punishment for being late. When they entered, the class was already working on their task of human transfiguration. It didn't seem to be going well. There was a duck running around the classroom, quacking noisily, and Lily's ex-dorm-mate Abby Jugson had been somehow shrunk to the size of a dwarf.  
>"Ms. Evans, I am surprised in you! This is your first time in being late for my class in six years." McGonogall had said, her lips dangerously thin.<br>"Er." Lily had replied, distracted by Sirius, who was smirking at her and making small, heart-shaped clouds blossom out of his wand and float toward her and James.  
>"That," McGonogall continued. "is why I will let you off this once."<br>"Thank-you Professor." Lily said gratefully, bowing her head.  
>"And Mr. Potter," McGonogall sniffed, just loud enough for the three of them to hear. "I suppose I will have to let you off too, seeing as you received one hundred and twelve percent on your last exam." She gave them a very rare, small smile.<br>"Thanks Professor." James grinned. "Whew." he whispered in Lily's ear, when they turned away from McGonogall's desk. "That was close."  
>"Sirius Black, stop that this instant." McGonogall snapped, as the puffy hearts drifted down the aisle after them.<p>

After that, the day went very wrong. Lily completely lost her head in Charms and set her desk on fire, merely because James had winked at her from across the room. Flitwick had set her extra practice - a first. She went to the library at noon where she spent a full hour reliving breakfast instead of eating lunch-her stomach was too full of butterflies anyways. Her strengthening solution in Potions was much too runny, and she had already incorrectly answered two of Professor Greenhorn's questions. Time seemed to pass by at the pace of a horned slug. She couldn't wait to see James again. She could technically see him right now, as they sat in Herbology, but he was a whole table's-length away from her, sitting with the rest of the Marauders. She wanted to really _see_ him again though. She wanted to feel his hand around hers, she wanted his undivided attention, she wanted to hear his voice, to feel once more that they were the only two people in the universe.  
>Throughout the day she'd thought of so many more things to ask him. What was his favorite season? Why? What did he do during the summer? Where did he live? What was his middle name? What were his parent's names? She was shocked by her desire to know more about him. It was very strange indeed to think that at this time last year, she didn't care about James Potter at all, let alone what his parent's names were. Things had most certainly changed.<br>Finally, Herbology ended. Lily watched out of the corner of her eye as Remus, Sirius, and Peter packed up their things quickly, while James seemed to dawdle.  
>"You coming, Prongs?" Sirius cocked his head at James.<br>"You go ahead." James waved him off. "I'll see you at practice." Sirius glanced at Lily. She quickly averted her eyes, but not before seeing his suspicious smile.  
>"All right." Lily could hear the smirk in Sirius's voice. "See you." She listened to the three of them troupe out of the room, concentrating harder than necessary on the removal of her dragon-hide gloves. Her mind raced.<br>Was he waiting for her? How should she act? Would he walk her back up to the castle? Would he hold her hand again? She looked up to see James looking at her. Her stomach seemed to vanish at the shy look in his sparkling eyes. She quickly gathered her things, stuffed them in her bag, then walked towards James, trying very hard not to leap into his arms.  
>"Hey, you." he gave her a crooked smile that left her breathless.<br>"Hi." she managed to reply. "How are you?"  
>"Me?" James grinned, and turned to head out of the greenhouse. "I'm fine. What about you?" he cast her un-brushed hair and dirt-smudged face a glance. "No offense, but you look a little frazzled."<br>"I feel a little frazzled." she admitted, rubbing the dirt off her forehead with the sleeve of her robe. "I think I singed my eyebrows in Charms."  
>"Maybe you shouldn't try to incinerate your desk." James nodded, feigning seriousness.<br>"Oh, shut up." she blushed. "That was your fault, you know."  
>"I suppose it was also my fault that you forgot to add salamander blood to your potion?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "And that you didn't know the properties of asphodel or the reason why Chinese Chomping cabbages died out in the 1700s?"<p>

She muttered something incomprehensible about lack of sleep.  
>"I know you know those things, Lily." James said, frowning at her. "What's wrong?"<br>"I'm just distracted. Tired, too." she said truthfully, failing to mention that he was her distraction. "Anyways, you have Quidditch practice tonight?" Lily asked, intentionally changing the subject.  
>"Yeah." he sighed, waving his wand in a complicated motion so that the snow melted to clear a path in front of them. He looked at her. "Would you believe I just want to cancel and do homework with you tonight?"<br>"Actually, yes." she smiled. "It's freezing out here. I don't know how you ride brooms in this sort of weather."  
>"Most of us are used to it by now." he shrugged. "Well, except for Tonks, since this is her first season." he shook his head. "She'll learn soon enough what Quidditch in January feels like."<br>That comment brought all her questions about him bursting back to the surface of her mind. "What's your favorite season?" Lily asked eagerly. He looked at her, bemused, but answered. "Before, it was summer. But I might just change my mind this year." He smiled wryly. Now it was Lily's turn to be confused. Since when was James Potter such a cryptic person?  
>"What's yours?"<br>"Autumn." she replied, still trying to unravel his previous statement. "I love summer's warmth and sunshine, but the last couple summers mostly consisted of avoiding Severus and Tuney's boyfriend. Not exactly what I would call fun."  
>He made a face. "I would imagine so."<br>"What do you usually do during the summer holidays?" she asked, her curiosity insatiable.  
>"Sirius and I usually play a lot of one on one Quidditch." James replied, opening the door for her as they went inside. "Sometimes Remus and Peter'll stay at my place for a week or so. My mum makes us pitch a tent in the backyard so she can get some sleep." He grinned, as though reminiscing. "It's kind of become a tradition. Our house backs up to a forest, so we do a lot of hiking and swimming - we have a lake too. Oh, and we roast practically all of our food over a fire. We're all pretty sick of toast by the end of the week."<br>"Sounds fun." she grinned, envisioning the four of them traipsing through the woods.  
>"It is." he agreed, heading up a staircase. "But enough about me."<br>She silently disagreed.  
>"What about you? What do you do at home besides avoid uncomfortable social situations?" Her heart stopped as he turned to face her, placed two hands around her waist and lifted her over a trick step with ease. It was a good thing he did, too. She was very scatter-brained today and probably would be waist-deep in the step by now if he hadn't.<br>"Read." she replied when he set her down again, trying to sound natural. "And I enjoy bicycling."  
>"Bicycling?" James repeated, appearing befuddled. "What is that?" Lily paused, stumped. How could she explain bicycling?<br>"Well it's like... there's a seat, on two wheels, with pedals." she tried to explain. She frowned. "I'll show you a picture. I'm sure I have one of me on my first bicycle somewhere."  
>"Okay." James still sounded puzzled. "Is it like a car or something? I do know what a car is." He sounded rather proud of that fact.<br>The two of them made their way up six more staircases, discussing how to operate a car, a concept that James couldn't seem to grasp. "So the gas pedal makes it go, and the brake makes it stop?" James asked as they climbed through their portrait hole.  
>"Yes."<br>"But you just press the pedal with your foot, you don't have to move your legs, like the pedals on a bike?"  
>"That is correct." James made an exasperated sound. "I think I'll stick with apparition and brooms."<br>"Maybe you should do that." she grinned up at him. He just shook his head.  
>"I'd like to see that picture, though."'<br>"Sure." Lily ran upstairs, threw off her dirty robes, ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her photo album, and ran back downstairs to where James was settled on their couch in front of the fireplace.  
>"Come here." James indicated the seat next to him. She plopped down on the couch much closer to him than necessary.<br>"Let me see if I can find it..." she muttered, acutely aware of his arm against hers. She opened up to the first page, all pictures of her as a very small baby surrounded by her mum, dad, and Tuney, who was around two years old at the time. Lily had been a chubby baby, with a fuzzy tuft of bright red hair, and overlarge, alert green eyes on her round, pale face.  
>"But they don't move!" James exclaimed, frowning down at the photos.<br>"Muggle pictures don't move." she told him matter-of-factly  
>"At all?" he sounded amazed.<br>"Nope." she grinned. "Haven't you ever had any Muggle or Muggle-born friends, James?" she asked incredulously. "Have you never been out in the Muggle world?"  
>James looked down at the photo pensively.<br>"Not really." he frowned. My family's pureblood, Sirius is my best mate, and he's pure-blood too. Remus and Peter are half-blood, and I live in Godric's Hollow, which is a Wizarding community." Lily mentally made note of that.  
>"You should come to my place this summer." she said, shaking her head. "We could do all the fun Muggle stuff you've missed out on. I could teach you how to ride a bicycle, how to drive we could watch movies-"<br>"Movies?"  
>"Never mind." Lily grinned and turned to the second page, mostly consisting of her as a toddler alongside her sister. They wore matching outfits in many of the pictures, and they were always holding hands. A wave of sadness washed over Lily. They'd been so close as children, and now they barely spoke to each-other.<br>"That's Petunia, right?" James asked gently. Lily just nodded. James must have sensed her discomfort, because he slipped an arm around her shoulders.  
>Her heart beat a little faster and she turned another couple pages of the album, searching.<br>"Here it is!" she exclaimed. There was a photo of her at six or seven years old on her very first bicycle. She was beaming excitedly up at the camera, showing a large gap where her two front teeth were missing.  
>"Cute." James chuckled. She elbowed him playfully. "I'm serious!" he lifted his hands defensively, then peered down at the photo. "How odd." he remarked. "Bicycle." he sounded out the word slowly.<br>There were many more pictures of her and Tuney. At parks, at the zoo, at school, the two sisters were always together. Lily flipped another page, knowing what was coming. When she was about eight or nine years old, the pictures changed abruptly. No longer did Petunia's blond head smile up at them, but instead, Severus's. He was an unnaturally pale, dark haired, dark eyed, and obviously not well cared for child. The contrast between the two friends was amazing. While he looked up at the camera uncertainly, his mouth turned down into a half-frown, Lily stood brightly beside him, her arm often cheerfully flung over his shoulders. James's own arm tightened around her as they looked at the photos.  
>"That's the park." Lily said softly, pointing at a photo of her and Snape on a swing-set. "That's where we first met. He had been watching us- spying - Tuney said. He watched me do magic. That's why he first introduced himself. He knew I was like him." James looked at her intensely, brow furrowed.<br>"You're nothing like him." he murmured softly. She looked up at him, showing him the bitterness she felt welling into her eyes.  
>"I wish I could blame him for making Tuney hate me." she sighed, voicing her regrets for the first time. "He was the one who barged into my life and made her feel like an outsider. He was the one who sneered at her for being a Muggle... I want it to be his fault that she won't speak to me anymore. I just need someone else to blame besides myself." Lily ground her teeth, remembering. "He made a branch fall on her once, on purpose. She wasn't really hurt, but I think it was the last straw for her. But it was all my fault, really." she sighed again. "I should've realized what he would become."<br>"You couldn't know, Lily." James said earnestly. "You couldn't know he was going to end up being... well, how he is."  
>"I guess." she turned the page again. It was full of very similar pictures: each one was of her and Severus on Platform 9 and 34 with the Hogwarts Express in the background. There were five photos, and two blank spaces at the bottom of the page.  
>"He showed up at our house every year on September 1st." She whispered, and pointed to the first blank space, where their sixth year photo would have been. "I cried the whole way to King's Cross that year." she blinked back fresh tears. "He never showed. I nearly didn't make it onto the train because I made my parents wait "till the last second to leave our house. I thought he just might come." James pulled her closer to him. She leaned into his chest, feeling sad but content. She had lost Severus and Tuney, but she had James. And he was worth the world to her now.<br>"That was your awkward year." James said after a long time. He chuckled, pointing to the photo of her and Sev from second year. Indeed, her hair was chopped short in an unflattering style. She was extremely thin and gangly with teeth that hadn't quite grown into place yet and a sunburned face. She moaned, embarrassed.  
>"Oh, Merlin." she laughed, already feeling marginally more cheerful. "Let's not look at that anymore." They looked through the rest of the album, occasionally laughing at some of Lily's awkward childhood photos. She didn't mind, though; it was oddly cheering. Finally, she turned to the last page in the album, where the most special picture was.<br>"My drawing." James said, sounding surprised.  
>"It's my favorite." she said, gazing at it. "I still can't get over what a talented artist you are."<br>James didn't say anything, but he looked at his watch and sighed.  
>"I'm keeping you, aren't I?" Lily said guiltily, sitting up.<br>"Well, technically practice doesn't start 'till six, but I'm just going to grab dinner to go then go set up." He withdrew his arm, and stood up.  
>"I guess I'll see you at breakfast then." Lily said, trying not to look too disappointed.<br>James dropped to his knees in front of her so that they were at the same eye level. For a wild moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he gently wiped his thumb across her brow.  
>"Soot." he flashed a grin. His face was close to hers, she could count every eyelash if she so desired. "I'll see you in the morning." His fingers lingered at her cheekbone, brushing her skin ever so slightly with his knuckles. Her heart went wild.<br>"Goodnight." she breathed as he rose to his feet and crossed the room.  
>"Goodnight." he called, stepping out of their porthole.<br>When she heard the painting click, she collapsed onto her back on the couch and expelled the air from her lungs loudly. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath.

* * *

><p>Lily woke Tuesday morning thinking that this week was bound to be busy, and she learned at breakfast that she was not mistaken. She received two pieces of mail at owl post. She knew they were both from Slughorn before she even opened them; they were both wrapped with a delicate red ribbon and smelled strongly of pineapple. The first one was inviting her to a casual dinner on the upcoming Friday and the next for a formal next Saturday night.<br>"_Bring a special friend and your dancing shoes_!" the note read at the bottom. She couldn't help but immediately think of James. She would love to have a night with James, just to talk and relax, but she didn't even really know if he would be interested. He didn't tend to do things like that. Lily sighed. She supposed she would go alone, as she usually did. Over the past couple years, she occasionally brought her Ravenclaw friend, Nicholas Stebbins, to Slughorn's formal parties - but neither of them had looked at it like dating. She had taken Nicholas because he was one of her very few guy friends (only guy friend, really, besides Remus) that never expressed interest in her outside of friendship. He got a steady girlfriend at the end of last year and Lily didn't see much of him, but they were still on good terms.  
>She shook herself. She shouldn't be worrying about Slughorn's party, because she had more important things to think about. Her and James were very behind on schedule with planning for the Christmas ball, which would take place the night before the holidays began. She most definitely had to make up for her abysmal performance in Charms on Monday, which meant extra practice, plus the usual head duties... The week was barely beginning and she was already looking forward to the weekend.<br>"Hey." Alice slipped into the seat next to Lily and beamed. Today her light brown her was pulled back into two braids, making her round face look even younger than usual. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you yesterday. What's up?"  
>"Not much." Lily said, spooning eggs into her mouth. "How about you?"<br>"I saw your face when you walked into Potions yesterday afternoon." Alice looked at her with eyebrows raised. '"You looked a little mad."  
>Lily laughed. "In a good way," Alice reassured her, "if that's possible."<br>"Well, actually," she was bursting to share the news with her best friend, even though it was slightly humiliating. "James and I," Alice's blue eyes went wide. "Sort of, maybe went on a date...?"  
>Alice's jaw dropped.<br>"Explain!" she ordered immediately. Lily told her how she had woken to find the package by her bedside and how it led to breakfast in Hogsmeade. Alice was a kind and loyal friend, but not the best listener. By the time Lily managed to finish the story, Alice had squealed and squeaked more times than she could count and interrupted to ask a question at least every twelve seconds.  
>"Did he kiss you when he said goodbye?" she asked excitedly.<br>"Well, no." Lily said, blushing at the thought. "But, I mean, we kind of just went straight to Transfiguration, after, it wasn't like he was dropping me off after dinner or something."

"Hmm." Alice nodded. "Maybe next time..." she paused. "There will be a next time, won't there?" she narrowed her eyes at Lily suspiciously as though daring her to disagree.  
>"I can't say for sure." Lily shrugged. "I kind of thought about asking him if he wants to go to Slughorn's party with me..." Her friend's eyes lit up.<br>"Yes! That's perfect. That way, he'll know you're interested-"  
>"Who said I'm interested?" Lily interjected, frowning. Alice looked at her and blinked.<br>"You're interested."  
>"I am?"<br>"Yes." Alice sighed, exasperated. "You fancy him, don't you?"  
>Lily nodded.<br>"You enjoyed your date, right?"  
>"Yes."<br>"And you'd like to do something like that again?" Alice nodded slowly with the air of talking to an intellectually challenged person.  
>"Yes." Lily said slowly. "But Slughorn's party... that's... different..."<br>"In what way?" Alice demanded.  
>"Well, there will be other people there." she wrinkled her nose.<br>"That's kind of the whole point of a party." Alice smiled. "But I know what you're afraid of."  
>"What?"<br>"Going public." she nodded sympathetically. "It's a scary thing." Lily thought for a moment. It was a scary thing. She envisioned herself and James walking through the busy corridors, hand in hand, or dancing at Slughorn's party, surrounded by peers. She knew she would certainly be mocked for it. Most of the student body knew that she had been rejecting James for years.  
>"Just think about it." Alice said gently, giving her a quick hug. "You'll figure it out." With that she stood up. "I have to get to Muggle Studies, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"<br>"Okay." Lily said thoughtfully. "Thanks, Alice."  
>"Anytime!" she waved and joined the crowd leaving the Great Hall. Lily finished off her eggs and swung her bag over her shoulder. She headed off, wondering why she hadn't seen James at breakfast. He probably ran Quidditch practice too long or something. Arithmacy was her first class, at nine o' clock. It was challenging and interesting as usual, taught by Professor Vector, a cheerful, engaging, thirty-something year old man. Then it was off to History of Magic. She entered the class, subconsciously searching for James. He wasn't there yet, so she took a seat, taking care to make sure there was an open one next to her. She pulled out her parchment and quill and started doodling.<br>"Hey." She jumped violently, knocking over her inkwell. James had appeared over her shoulder.  
>"Merlin, James!" she gasped, glancing down at her soaked parchment. Thankfully, her spilt ink had splashed across the J.P. she had been embellishing. "Don't do that!"<br>"Sorry," he grinned. "Scourgify." Her desktop was instantly clean again. He slid into the chair next to her.  
>She gazed at him for a moment, taking him in. "Why weren't you at breakfast?"<br>"I was, believe it or not, working." he gave a winning half-smile.  
>"On what?" She raised her eyebrows at him doubtfully<br>"I know we're really slacking on planning for that Christmas ball, so I got started." he shrugged.  
>"Really?" she said, taken aback.<br>"Yup." he rummaged in his bag for a moment, pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, and handed it to her. "I just scribbled down some ideas. You know, menu, decorations, time, entertainment... so on. Oh, I also got the list of how many seventh years there are attending. It's all there."  
>She looked down the list and gave a relieved smile. "You're a life-saver, James."<br>"It's not a big deal." he smiled back at her. "Just doing my job."  
>"Our job, you mean." She bit her bottom lip guiltily. "Sorry I haven't been more on top of things."<br>"Nobody's perfect, Lily." James said kindly.  
>"I've always been a perfectionist though." she admitted, relishing in the sound of her name on his lips.<br>"No, really?" James replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Who has their homework color coded by class and filed alphabetically?"  
>"That would be me." Lily grinned sheepishly. "Listen," she continued, thinking quickly and not thoroughly. "I don't know if you would be interested..." she could feel heat creeping up to her cheeks."but Slughorn sent me an invitation this morning, and I was just wondering, you see, it's a formal, and you're supposed to bring- well a, er, friend and, maybe if you would-but don't feel obligated at all- if possibly you would-"<br>"Lily." James interrupted, eyes sparkling mischievously. "Can I go to Slughorn's party with you?" She blanched.  
>"Er." she managed to stutter after a very pregnant pause. "Sure."<br>"Awesome." James smiled brightly at her. Lily blushed furiously and looked down at her shoes. "So when is this party anyways?"  
>"Er, next Saturday night. Eight o' clock." she looked up from her shoes. His smoldering hazel eyes gazed at her intensely. Actually, his eyes seemed to not gaze at her, but through her. Straight through her. to the soul. She gulped.<br>"Today's lesson will be review on the Goblin Rebellion of the fifth century." Professor Binns had just drifted through the chalkboard. "As you should know, there have been multiple Goblin uprisings throughout the history of wizard-kind. And while Gur the Guiltless..."  
>"I look forward to it." James tore his eyes from hers and leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Hi guys! So, I'm really sorry about the wait. I'm a horrid person. But I took a vacation to Nova Scotia and I just got back.**

**Anyways, I think this chapter is kinda choppy, not my favorite I've written so far, but I hope you like it anyways.**

**Please review, it will help me write and update sooner, honestly.**

James was elated. Lily had asked him (well, attempted to ask him) to one of Slughorn's parties, something he'd persistently tried to convince her to do in fifth year.

Operation befriend Lily Evans was going very well indeed. The beauty of it was, really, though, that he hadn't deceived Lily or pretended one step of the way. He'd been himself, one hundred percent honest and real. And she still wanted him to go with her. Apparently, she actually liked spending time with him! He was glad that she finally knew the real him, not the selfish, arrogant, superficial boy she'd seen him as for the past six years. It was a very fulfilling sensation.

Through Quidditch practice, classes, and head boy jobs and quidditch captaincy duties, her gentle, intelligent eyes consumed his mind. She filled his thoughts, made appearances in his dreams and nagged at the back of his mind throughout the next week and a half. Neither of them had much free-time, but when they did they spent it together. The library might not have counted as spending time together, with Madam Pince's constant hovering and shushing every time they tried to speak, but they quickly developed a steady routine. They met in their common room every morning, ate breakfast together, then classes, lunch, where they sat in a group with Peter, Remus, Sirius, Alice, and Frank, then a quick visit to the library, more classes, dinner together. James typically had Quidditch practice in the evenings, then the two of them studied in front of the fire in their common room. Then they planned and organized for the Christmas Ball, which was coming along suprisingly well despite their late start. Bed. Repeat. The only variable in their schedule was patrolling the corridors, which James was beginning to love.

Even though he was exhausted, James found himself waking up earlier so he and Lily had more time to talk at breakfast and cutting Quidditch practice shorter so he could get to their nightly study sessions. But he was also trying to keep up with spending time with Remus, Peter, and Sirius. He didn't want to leave them in the dust just because Lily was finally responding to his penchant for her.

NEWT work was tough and even if he wasn't crazy about Lily, he would've appreciated her friendship all the same. Between the two of them, homework was easier. She helped him understand concepts and laws in Potions and Charms; he helped her apply them and put her extensive knowledge to use in Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. They worked on star charts and Herbology sketches together, sometime even copying work off of each-other, something James would've never dreamed Lily would agree to.

He found something new about her that made him fall a little harder every day. He discovered that when she was disgusted she bit the inside of her cheeks and ground her teeth when she was annoyed or angry. He learned about her friends from Muggle school, Joanna and Taylor, friends she had to leave behind when she came to Hogwarts but still saw during the summer holidays. He'd found out that her parent's names were Rosie and Marcus, that her mum worked in Cokeworth's local flower shop, and her dad worked as an electrician - a job that James did not understand but found fascinating. She'd reminisced to him about her Mum's parents, who had died in a car accident during Lily's third year at Hogwarts. She also mentioned her other set of grandparents: her grandfather, who had died of heart disease, and her grandmother, who had gone slightly batty after the loss of her husband and frequently called Lily "Hamper." What this was supposed to mean, neither James nor Lily had any idea, but they laughed about it all the same. They were then unceremoniously kicked out of library by a very angry Madam Pince.  
>In turn James told Lily about his family, which was very small and extremely interesting to Lily, since she had no Wizarding relatives. He told her about all the Marauder's adventures over the years, how they used to sneak out under the invisibility cloak and pull all sorts of ridiculous pranks. He complained to her that the four of them could most certainly not fit under it anymore, but thought aloud that perhaps it was for the best.<p>

This morning James woke up in a particularly cheerful mood. Tonight was the night of Slughorn's party, and he was actually excited. Yes, throughout the years he had poked fun at the member's of the 'Slug Club', but it wouldn't hurt him to be humble and attend one for once. But, honestly? The Slug Club? It was a name practically begging to be mocked. But he would go to any sort of event to spend time with Lily, he didn't really care what it was. He showered, got dressed, grabbed his books and ran downstairs, stopping before he reached the bottom. Lily was leaning against the side of the banister, her nose in a book.

Merlin, she was beautiful.

"Good morning." he said quietly, appreciating the way her hair cascaded down her back in soft ember waves. It reminded him of the ocean's tide at sunrise. Lily looked up from her book and her eyes lit up at the sight of him. He treasured that: her eyes used to narrow in dislike whenever he entered a room, but now... well, things had changed. She too looked particularly energized today. He was sure their thinking was on the wavelength. They had mentioned the party to each-other a few times since her brave but pathetic attempt in asking him to come with her, but he didn't think they needed words to communicate today. Lily marked her page and stuffed her book back into her bag.

"You ready?" he asked brightly, jumping down one step and leaning against his side of the banister so he was looking straight down into her eyes.

"Yup." she quickly tucked her hair behind her ear, leaving behind a few strands. He leaned over the railing towards her and put the flyaway hairs back in place. She looked up at him with wide, smiling eyes.

"Thanks." she said breathlessly, a touch of red rising to her cheeks.

"No problem." he forced himself to back away from her - the smell of her was incapacitating, like vanilla and brown sugar. "How did you sleep?" he descended to her level and started toward the portrait hole, trying not to audibly sniff her.

"Not great." she shrugged, the pink fading from her face. "The nightmares have been getting more frequent. I think it's because I've been so busy."

James took her hand and squeezed it. Her hand was so soft, small, and delicate. He felt so obligated to protect her, though he knew fully what a capable witch she was.

"Once you go home for the holidays you can relax." he reminded her. "Two whole weeks of freedom from studying. It should be great." He reluctantly released her hand. Over the past couple weeks, he's been careful. He wasn't going to ruin their friendship by moving too fast for her in the public eye. He didn't know where their relationship was heading, if anywhere, but he was content with being her close friend, her confidante - best friend even.

"It should be nice," she agreed. "as long as Tuney's boyfriend isn't there."

James chuckled softly. "So what's first on the schedule today?"

"Er... What's today? Friday? That would be Arithmacy." He found the way she answered her own questions rather endearing. "What about you?"

"Care of Magical creatures." he replied. "I think Professor Kettleburn is getting a bit tired of teaching. Do you realize how many parts of his body he's lost over the years?"

"More than is reasonable?"

"Definitely more than is reasonable." He opened the Great Hall door for her. As they walked down the aisle, James tried to ignore the people pointing at them. He was getting used to people whispering and giggling when he was with Lily. He didn't mind, really, but he didn't want it to make Lily uncomfortable and chase her away.

"You would think they would've found something more interesting to talk about than the fact that we're - " she faltered for a barely noticeable second. " - friends, now." She pushed her hair back from her face and suddenly became very interested in the stone tiles of the floor.

"You would think." James smiled, pretending not to notice. They took a seat at the Gryffindor table, which wasn't very full yet. They chatted for a few minutes, their voices adding to the din of silverware clattering against dishes and the steady hum of student's conversations. The owl post arrived, and Lily's tawny owl, Bea, brought her a letter. James stroked Bea's feathers and fed her bits of his sausage while Lily untied the letter and read it.

"It's from my parents." she sighed after a few minutes of reading. "What were we just saying ten minutes ago? I guess we spoke too soon. Look at this!" She pointed to the first paragraph. He took the letter.

_Our dearest Lily_, it read  
><em> How are you? How are you doing in your classes? Perfectly, we're sure, but we suppose it's polite to ask anyways. Is being head girl still everything you hoped for? How is James doing?<em>_  
><em>

He paused for a moment at that point. She'd told her parents about him? What had she said? Had she complained about how obnoxious he was or how they were becoming friends? He hadn't thought about it before now, but she had probably complained to her parents about him a lot over the years. Fantastic. He resumed reading.

How's _Alice? Tell her hello from us. We miss you very much, so owl us soon. __  
><em>_ You are, as always, very welcome to come home for the Christmas holidays, but before you decided we wanted to tell you that Petunia is coming home and bringing her boyfriend Vernon. We would absolutely love for you to be here but we understand if you want to stay at Hogwarts.__  
><em>  
>The letter continued for another page and was signed at the bottom from Mum and Dad.<p>

Lily was frowning. James made a sympathetic face.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know... I'd love to see my mum and dad, but you don't know what Vernon's like. He's a nightmare, honestly." She put her face in her hands. "And I can't even go to Alice's because her family's going to South America on vacation." James's brain was whirling, but he didn't say anything.

"Okay, sorry." Lily emerged from behind her hands. She nibbled on a piece of toast and stared at her plate pensively. James knew she was contemplating, so he didn't bother her. When she finally looked up from her plate, James gave her a tentative smile.

"What's the consensus?" he asked, knowing she'd thought hard and made up her mind.

"I'm staying here." she said resolutely. "I'll be miserable if I go home. I know my mum and dad will understand. They know how much I ha- dislike Vernon." She cocked her head at him. "You're going home for Christmas, right?"

He nodded, noticing that she looked a bit disappointed. Or perhaps it was just his ego.

"Well, have fun for me." she said gloomily. "I'll probably read a hundred books while you're gone."

"Don't exaggerate." he raised his eyebrows. "I bet you'll read... twenty-three."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Five galleons," he offered. "That you won't read over twenty three books over Christmas."

"Deal." she grinned. He loved how quickly he was able to cheer her up.

He raised an eyebrow at her suspiciously.

"Have you told your parents how irksome I've been?"

"What?" She blushed "No. Er, well, maybe."

He raised his eyebrow higher.

"Well, yes, I've complained about you... in the past..." she admitted, sounding sheepish. "But don't worry, I've told them you've changed a lot."

"Oh, good. I wouldn't want them thinking that I'm an 'arrogant toe-rag.'" He flashed a grin.  
>She scowled. "Bringing up my previous feelings towards you is not making this whole being nice to you thing easy."<p>

"Oh, so our agreement is still valid?" he grinned wider still. "I thought it was kind of broken when you asked me out."

"Just for the record, I never asked you out." she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He shrugged. "This is true."

"You invited yourself." she teased, poking him in the side. Her blush betrayed her feigned nonchalance. "That's not a very polite thing to do, you know."

He rolled his eyes.

She finished off her pumpkin juice as she collected herself and stood up. "I'd better head up to Arithmacy. I was late last time."

"All right. I'll see you in DADA, then." He was sad to see her go despite the fact that he would see her in a couple of hours.

"See you." she smiled and brushed her fingers lightly through his hair as she left. Her casual touch sent intense shivers down his spine. He watched as goose bumps raised the hair on his arms, then looked up after Lily with intense longing as she left the Great Hall. If only she knew a fraction of the amount he cared for her. He shook his head and finished breakfast in a daze. He had thought a month ago that his feelings for Lily Evans couldn't get any stronger. How very wrong he had been.

* * *

><p>The day passed slowly. James accompanied Lily to lunch, the library, and afternoon classes as usual. He would occasionally lapse into day dreams in class, only to be suddenly aroused by a strange, excited jolt of anticipation in his midsection. He struggled a all day to not just give up on his work and just stare at Lily. He noticed she seemed a bit jittery too, tapping her quill on her desk all throughout DADA and History of Magic. Finally class ended. James thought it was a terrible thing, having the easily most boring class at the end of the day.<p>

"Hey." James said to Lily as they packed up their things and Professor Binns drifted back through the blackboard. "I scheduled Quidditch practice early, so I'll meet you in the common room at quarter to eight, okay?"

"Okay." She gave a nervous smile. "I'll be there."

"I'll see you soon, then." he waved as they left the classroom and headed opposite directions.

* * *

><p>James ate dinner with the Quidditch team, then headed down to the pitch. He was incredibly proud of his team. Tonks was getting better every practice, Marlene was making more saves, and he, Sirius, and Emmeline were working together beautifully. James was sure they could win their next match against Ravenclaw. He started practice with showing them some diagrams he'd drawn, then they went out and practiced the moves. They ran, did some conditioning, and worked on blocking, aiming, and maneuvers until quarter after seven.<p>

"Good job, guys." he said as they left the changing rooms. "I'll see you normal time tomorrow, okay?"

"Have fun with Lily!" Tonks called after him, her voice mischievous. He turned around, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, good luck." Marlene beamed at him.

"Padfoot, I thought I told you to keep this on the down low." James rolled his eyes.

Sirius grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, mate. They asked why practice was scheduled earlier!"

James just shook his head and headed back up to the school. When he reached their dorms and headed up to shower, he heard muffled thumps from Lily's room. It sounded like she was rummaging through her trunk and chucking unwanted objects around the room. He gave a silent laugh, thinking that was probably exactly what she was doing.

He showered, taking extra care to make sure all the sweat was completely gone from his body. He dried his hair with a quick spell and tried to get it to lay flat, to no avail. He sprayed on some cologne and donned his dress robes. He checked his watch. 7:40. He exhaled loudly and looked into the mirror, fidgeting with the sleeve of his robes. He nervously flattened his hair again. It seemed to magically pop back up into an upright position. He looked at his watch again. 7:41. He made his way down to the empty common room. The fire crackled cheerfully in the quiet. James sunk onto the couch and let himself fall to thought.

Lily Evans.

She was kind, deep, and innocent. She was remarkably intelligent, interesting, and utterly beautiful. His collected demeanor clashed with her fiery temper, but somehow they seemed to fit together perfectly. He didn't deserve her, he knew that. But that didn't stop him from wanting her.

Did she even know how much he was at her mercy? A few words out of her mouth could easily break his heart into pieces, but he was still incredibly, foolishly, happy.

He was a fool. What was he doing? How many times had Lily made it clear that she didn't like him?

He shook himself. Things had changed. She'd changed. He'd changed.

_She likes you_, he told himself firmly. _She likes you, or she wouldn't be going to this with you_.

A moment of strong horror overtook him. Technically, she'd never asked him to come with her. What if she hadn't been trying to ask him out at all? What if he had misunderstood her? He racked his brains, thinking. She'd said Slughorn had just invited her... That she was supposed to bring a friend... That she was wondering if... And then he'd stepped in. But she definitely said

"I was wondering if... Mumble mumble, you would like to-" She had been red as a tomato, too.

Why else would she have been so embarrassed? He breathed out slowly. He was being ridiculous.

"Where's your confidence, James?" He muttered to himself. "Now's not the time to loose your ego." He buried his face in his hands wearily and tried to focus. He mentally went through his body and manually relaxed each part, letting the warmth of the fire sink into his tense muscles.

Neck.

Shoulders.

Triceps.

Biceps.

Hands.

Abs.

"Sorry." The tenor of Lily's soft voice carried across the room from the top of the staircase, immediately sending blood pounding through James's veins again. "I couldn't find my shoes." He looked up from his hands. She looked incredible. Her long, dark red locks were curled into perfectly soft, bouncy ringlets. Her shining emerald eyes seemed larger than usual against her pale, porcelain skin and her pink lips, full and perfect, were turned up into a shy smile. She descended the stairs, her emerald green dress robes sweeping behind her elegantly. James reminded himself to shut his mouth.

"Hi." he managed to speak. His mouth was dry as she approached him. He forced his brain to speed up. "You look-" he groped for a word that could somehow explain the beauty of her. "stunning," he settled for. "Absolutely stunning."

"Thanks." she blushed and bit her lip. "Shall we go then?"

"Er, yes, let's." he replied, tearing his eyes away from the smooth curve of her bottom lip. "Ladies first." he gestured toward the portrait hole.  
>He followed her out and they walked down the hall in a somewhat awkward silence. James racked his brain, trying to think of something casual or clever to say, but she spoke before he could.<p>

"So I just found out yesterday..." she sounded excited. "Guess who's going to be at the party?"

"Who?"

"Josef Wronksi."

James stopped in his tracks.

"Josef Wronski?" he repeated in a hushed tone.

"Er. Yes..." Lily looked slightly alarmed at his expression.

"The Josef Wronski?" he clarified disbelievingly. "Legendary seeker for the Grodzisk Goblins, and inventor of the Wronksi feint?"

"Yes." Lily's brow furrowed. "Also, the author of Theory of Quidditch."

James slowly began walking again, running a hand through his hair. "Do you think I can get his signature?"

Lily gave a soft laugh. "I would think so." Suddenly she narrowed her eyes at him. "Does this mean we're going to spend the whole night stalking him?" James looked at her guiltily.

"Of course not. Well, maybe a little."

"A little stalking I can deal with." She gave a cute little smile.

James made a mental note not to ignore Lily despite one of his hero's presence. Not that he was really capable of ignoring her anyways. He'd tried a lot last year. He'd tried not to think of her, or look at her, he'd tried to get over her, and he found it impossible. Every couple of weeks he'd cave and ask her out again. And yes, he'd been obnoxious, but she was like a strange addiction. She was irresistible.

Lily laughed her delicate soprano laugh, interrupting his train of thought. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh." she said, a look of amused apprehension spread across her face. "Sorry. Just a Muggle aphorism."

"Aphorism?" What was aphorism? He felt really foolish now.

"Er, you know an expression. Axiom, maxim, saw, proverb, saying, phrase..."

James shook his head. "What do you do in your spare time, Lily, read dictionaries?"

"No." she replied seriously. "Though I did try to read through the dictionary when I was nine. I think I got to the B's."

"Well that would explain your extensive knowledge of the synonyms for the word 'aphorism.'"

"Indeed." she smiled as he opened Slughorn's office door for her. Soft classical music drifted out of a phonograph across the dimly lit, red velvet draped room. A long table of delicacies lined the wall; James could detect the subtle aromas of trifle, treacle tart, and crystallized pineapple. Waiters bobbed between students with loaded trays of hors d'oeuvres mulled mead, and no doubt, butterbeer.

James immediately took note of several faces he recognized: Gwenog Jones, an extremely talented, but very conceited Ravenclaw Quidditch player; he also saw Eric Munch and Edgar Bones, aspiring Ministry officials.

Chatting in a circle was Caradoc Dearborn, Strugis Podmore, and a boy called Stebbins, all very high-achieving students.

He saw Doris Crockford, a girl infamous for answering questions incorrectly no matter what class she was in. Alongside her was Bertha Jorkins, another infamously prying, interfering, face. James couldn't imagine that either of the girls was invited by Slughorn, who was mainly interested in young witches and wizards like Lily and Frank Longbottom who were clearly going to go far in life. Bertha in particular was definitely not one of those people.

"Ah, Lily Evans, one of my most prized jewels!" Slughorn's great belly preceded him out of the crowd. His straw-colored hair was plastered against his round head and he looked extremely excited.

"Good evening, Professor." Lily smiled at the potions master. "Thank-you for the invite."

"My pleasure, dear, absolutely mine." He turned his eyes from Lily, and his eyes lit up, surprised, at the sight of James. "And James Potter, m' boy! What a pleasure to see you here too."

"A pleasure to be here, sir." James shook the Potions professor's hand cordially.

"I might have had an invite for you long ago if you hadn't been such a mischief-maker over the years." Slughorn winked knowingly. "The stories I've heard, boy, I can't believe half of them are true. I once heard a rumor that you were the one responsible for Hogwart's Great Centaur Stampede of '75!" He gave a disbelieving shout of laughter.

James tried to laugh along with him naturally.

"Well, you can't believe everything you hear." James replied evasively.

"I suppose so." Slughorn chuckled. "Ah! You must excuse me for a moment. Quirinus!" Slughorn shouted after a pale, uncomfortable looking fifth year and hustled off once more.

James looked down to meet Lily's accusing gaze.

"Were you responsible for that?" she raised her eyebrows. "I also heard the rumors, but I never actually found out."

"Yes." he replied in a low voice. "But I still blame Sirius."

She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and shook her head.

"That actually doesn't surprise me at all."

James laughed at her expression, then placed his hand on her lower back and guided her toward the table of food.

"Hungry?" he asked, acutely aware of the spark of electricity that seemed to zing whenever he touched her. He handed her a china plate.

"Sure." she started loading her plate with small bits of everything. He followed her example, then pointed to a nearly empty table in the far corner, across the dancing floor.

"Want to take a seat over there?" he suggested.

"We can try." she nodded solemnly and bravely dove into the throng. James swept up two butterbeers off a tray as they maneuvered through the sea of students, trying not to spill food on anyone. He followed after Lily's very visible hair with many '_Excuse me'_s _and 'Sorry'_s. A few people greeted him, looking surprised to see him there. "Wow." James said when they broke free from the crowd; sure he had trod on at least four pairs of feet. "There are more people here than I expected."

"Who said we academically advanced students don't know how to throw a party?" Lily grinned and gestured to a table, where a lone Xenophilous Lovegood sat, looking around with a mildly dreamy expression. James noticed that the sixth year Ravenclaw had worn a gurdyroot around his neck and canary yellow robes for the occasion.  
>James pulled a chair out for Lily and set a glass of butterbeer next to her plate. She sat without questioning his seating choice, but winked at him quickly. He flashed a grin and took a seat next to her.<p>

"Hello Lily Evans and James Potter." Xenophilious greeted them. "When did you two become friends? I appear to have missed this event."

James exchanged an amused glance with Lily. "A couple of months ago, I guess." he shrugged when Lily didn't answer.

"You became friends on September the 19th of 1977?" Xenophilius clarified, peering at James with startlingly blue eyes.

"Er." James said, taken aback, "No, actually, I'm pretty sure she was still avoiding me then."

Lily stepped on his foot under the table. "I wasn't avoiding you." She rolled her eyes. "I just wasn't necessarily trying to associate with you."

"Same thing." James countered, starting on his roasted pheasant. Lily shrugged and reached for her butterbeer.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you." Xenophilous said mildly as Lily raised her glass to her lips.

She paused. "Why?"

"There's a wrackspurt in it."

"A what?" Lily looked into her glass, then through the bottom, utterly lost.

"A wrackspurt." he replied, as though she should know what he was talking about. "They're nearly invisible little creatures. They float into your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. I heard they enjoy the sweet warmth of butterbeer. My sources seem to have been correct."

He stood and leaned over so he was practically lying on the table, reaching his hand out for Lily's glass. The basket of bread on the table crunched beneath his torso. Lily looked alarmed and thrust her glass at him.

"Here, here, just sit down." she said quickly. James had a feeling she was concerned Xenophilous was going to collapse the table.

He grabbed her glass and plopped back onto his chair. He then plunged his fist into her drink, splashing all three of them with butterbeer. He furrowed his brow and bit his lip, searching furiously for something in Lily's glass.

"Got it!" he declared suddenly. His hand flew out, spraying them with a second round of warm, sticky liquid. He peered carefully at the tiny space between two of his fingers. "Little bugger."

He threw the invisible speck over his shoulder and promptly handed Lily back her glass. It was about a quarter ways full.

The bread basket was oddly squashed.

James tried to choke back a laugh but instead choked on a piece of pheasant.

Lily took her glass and set if back on the table, looking slightly shocked at what had just happened.  
>James managed to swallow his pheasant and gulp down some of his own butterbeer, avoiding Lily's eyes so he wouldn't spit his drink everywhere. He had a feeling that wouldn't win him the best date award.<p>

"So..." Lily said awkwardly after a moment. "Xeno, what are you planning on doing after school?"

"I'm going on a search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in France over the summer."

"Oh." Lily said, her voice an octave too high. "That's... Great."  
>Suddenly a thin olive-skinned man collapsed into the seat next to James with a large mug of mead. His forehead shone with sweat.<p>

"Whew! Some crowd." he exclaimed. James froze.

"Mr. Wronski?" He gasped, recognizing the famous seeker in a second.

"Oh." the man looked at him with dark but cheerful eyes. "Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"James Potter, sir. I'm a huge fan." he shook his hero's hand eagerly.

"Oh, wonderful." he said breezily. "You play Quidditch?"

"Yes, sir." James responded eagerly.

"Seeker?"

"Chaser." James replied, suddenly wishing he had tried out for Seeker. His dad had been one after all.

"And I still don't know why you walked around playing with a snitch for an entire school year." Lily commented lightly, reaching her hand out to Josef. "Lily Evans, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a big fan of your work off-field too."

"Oh! Theory of Quidditch?" He looked delighted.

"Did you know that Quidditch was derived from the ancient sport of Snorkditch, a sport played on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?" Xenophilous stated suddenly.

"Er, no. I've never heard that before." Josef actually looked quite intrigued.

James decided that there was no point in arguing with Xeno and chose to eat with Lily in silence, entertained by the conversation between the famous Quidditch player and the eccentric Xenophilius Lovegood. After a half hour or so, Josef was dragged off by Slughorn to meet Gwenog Jones, leaving the three students alone again.

"Well." announced James, pushing his empty plate away from him. "Nice chatting with you, Xeno, but Ms. Evans and I must leave your company."

"We must?" Lily looked puzzled. "We haven't been here long."  
>He held his open hand out to her. "May I have this dance?" She blushed furiously.<p>

"Well..."

"I won't even say anything if you step on my feet." he tempted her.

"I don't know about this, James." she said nervously, curling her fingers around his. "The only dancing I've ever done was in ballet class. And that was nearly a decade ago."

James pulled her gently to her feet. "The only dancing I've ever done is with my mum in the kitchen." he told her honestly. "We can embarrass ourselves together."

"Fine." she gave a small smile. "You lead though."

He twined his fingers through hers and guided her through the crowd to where a dozen or so couples circled to the slow music.

"Here." he placed her right hand on his shoulder and took her free hand in his. He put his free hand at her waist, trying not to look nervous. It was one thing to admire the curves of her body from afar, but another thing entirely to feel them. He focused on looking her in the eyes. She looked rather self-conscious.

"Okay, now I step forward," he guided her slowly, remembering how his Mum taught him. "And you step back." She did so. "Then to the right, then forward, left, Repeat." Thankfully her steps were light and his shoes were thick, because his promise to say nothing if she stepped on his feet was sorely tested.

"Just feel the music now." he instructed her once she seemed to memorize the steps. "Relax." He grinned down at her, marveling at her closeness. Her soft hair, which fell down to her waist, brushed lightly against his hand, enticing him to knit his fingers into it. She grinned up at him.

"You know, this is actually not too terrible." Lily said after a moment.

"Not too terrible?" he gave her a mock scowl. "I am the best dancer in all of Scotland. My mum even said so." He swung Lily's delicate frame away from his, then spun her into his arms again, and even dipped her a bit, just to show off. Looking down at her porcelain face sprinkled lightly with freckles, holding her body so close to his own, he couldn't help but notice the feel of her arching back beneath his fingertips, the gleam of exhilaration in her emerald eyes, and the slight shortness of breath escaping her lips.

"You know what?" he breathed, pulling her upright and to his chest.

"What?"

"You're beautiful."

Red rose to her cheeks at once. Which of course, only made her more enticing.

"And you're embarrassing me." She frowned, but her eyes were smiling, so James knew she didn't mind his complement.

Lily looked down and seemed to realize that they had stopped dancing, but were simply standing very close together in the middle of the dance floor. She looked back up at him. Was it his imagination, or had her eyes just flickered to his lips? He couldn't help but to let his eyes drift to her full, perfect mouth. She looked into his eyes again, her gaze smoldering intensely.

"Lily!"

James was brought back to earth with a rather sudden bump, that bump being Alice. Alice's expression quickly changed from excitement to horror and back at the scene. Lily quickly took a short step back from James. He suddenly felt very cold.

Alice flushed. "Oh. Hi. I just saw you two and I just wanted to see, er, how things were going and... yeah."

"Who did you come with, Alice?" Lily asked. She was blushing again. "Or did Slughorn just invite you?"

"Oh, well, I'm here with Frank." Her light blue eyes seemed to crackle with excitement.

"Really?" Lily exclaimed. "When did he- how - why didn't you tell-?"

"We'll talk later." Alice said slowly, her words loaded with hidden female meaning that James didn't understand.

"You bet we will." Lily raised an eyebrow at Alice.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Well..." said Alice. "I was going to see if you guys wanted to join me and Frank in a game of exploding snap, but don't let me interrupt you."

James looked down at Lily, uncertain of what she wanted to do.

"We'll join you in a bit." Lily told her, looking back up at him for assurance. He gave a her a subtle wink.

"Sure. In a bit."

"Okay." Alice grinned and backed away into a dancing couple. She blushed, muttered an apology, beamed at thetwo of them again, and vanished into the crowd.

"Alice." Lily shrugged

"Alice." James agreed, taking Lily back into his arms.

"Oh, no." Lily said as a new song began. "Not this song." James listened for a moment.

"Celina Warbeck?"

Lily laughed, probably at the fact that he knew that. "I'm guessing your mum listens to Celina Warbeck?"

"Only every day." James rolled his eyes.

"She's pretty awful." Lily grimaced.

"_And I'll brew you up a cauldron full of hot strong love tonight_..." James sang along in a truly obnoxious impression. Lily giggled but started singing along.

_Oh, come and stir my cauldron_

_And if you do it right_

_I'll boil you up some hot, strong love_

_To keep you warm tonight_

A few nearby dancers stared, but Lily didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were glued to his and a smile played along the corners of her lips as they sang the entire song together.

"We should definitely do this for a living." She remarked when the last few high pitched notes ended.

"What, make a mockery of overrated singers?"

"Sure."

"Or we could just create a singing duo." James grinned. "I do a great harmony."

"Oh, yeah, I definitely noticed that." Lily snorted.

"I'm glad I invited myself to this." James said, smiling widely.

"You're actually a pretty fun person once you get over your hatred for someone."

"You're actually a pretty fun person once you get over yourself." she retorted.

"Touché."

"Do you want to take a break to play exploding snap?" Lily asked, looking around his shoulder. "Frank and Alice look a little awkward over there."

James followed her line of sight over two fourth year's heads. Indeed, Frank and Alice were sitting next to each-other, unspeaking and uncomfortable looking.

"We'd be bad friends if we didn't." James agreed. They squeezed through the crowd, grabbing more butterbeer on the way over.

"Hey, you guys up for that game?" asked Lily in an easy-going tone. James admired the way she could wash away an uncomfortable atmosphere with a few simple words.

"Sure." Frank replied easily.

James didn't miss the grateful glance that Alice cast Lily. He knew that Frank wasn't exactly your classic ladies man, but once he loosened up, he and Alice would be sure to have a good time together.

The four of them gathered around a corner table and started an intense game of Exploding Snap. James found himself truly enjoying the company and light-hearted conversation that was so hard to find during NEWT year at Hogwarts.

Also, there was the fact that Lily did not seem to mind sitting close to him. A couple of times he thought he actually caught her scooting her chair closer to his. Frank won the first round and of course, Alice demanded a rematch.

By the middle of their seventh game, the party was being ended by Slughorn, who let off a party cracker and (sounding somewhat drunk) told everyone how fond he was of all of them.

James couldn't help but zone out halfway through Slughorn's long-winded farewell speech, but he caught several slurred, but well-meaning words such as,_ elite_,_ favorite, chosen_, and _success._ James thought how great Slughorn's joy must be in this room of precious jewels. He'd learned long ago that that was what Slughorn did. He collected.

In the warmth of Slughorn's office and under the influence of rich butterbeer, James was having trouble concentrating, so he contended himself with the examination of Lily's profile as she listened attentively to the Potions master.

Her small button nose and plump lips... He gazed at her hair, entranced by how the light hit it at a certain angle and made it glow gold, shimmering whenever she moved.

Suddenly, Slughorn's speech was over and James was abruptly roused by the swarm of students boisterously forcing everyone towards the exit. James struggled to keep up with Lily as she bobbed lithely through the crowd and out the door. She was built for this. He, on the other hand, was over six foot tall. He found her waiting for him beside the door.

"Bye!" Frank and Alice waved farewell as they set off together toward Gryffindor tower. Lily looked anxiously after them.

"They'll be fine." James reassured her, becoming more alert at the thought that Lily was his alone again.

"I know." Lily smiled up at him. "They'll figure it out." She slipped her hand into his easily as they headed up to their dorms through the deserted hallways. He squeezed her fingers gently. They listened as the chatter of student's voices faded away. The silence was loud, when,

"You!" The wheezy voice of Argus Filch preceded him from around the shadowy corner. Lily exhaled, sounding exasperated.

"Yes, Mr. Filch?" she asked innocently, concealing their entwined hands behind the fabric of their robes.

"What do you think you're doing? It's nearly three hours past curfew!" he wheezed angrily. Mrs. Norris peeked around his boots, her eyes gleaming maliciously.

"We just got out of Professor Slughorn's party." Lily replied earnestly. "Professor Dumbledore gave permission to the members of the Slug Club to be out past curfew when Professor Slughorn is holding a gathering for students."

"Do you have proof of identity, heerm?" Filch scowled at them unpleasantly. "Permission slip? Note of authorization? Photo ID?"

"No..." Lily glanced at James, as though asking him for help. An idea suddenly struck him. He slipped his free hand into the pocket of his robes.

"Well I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you in detention."

"For what?" Lily replied angrily, loosing her innocent voice a touch. "James and I are head boy and girl. You know there was a party tonight, and it is perfectly acceptable for us to walk back to our dorms after attending an academic gathering..."

"_Sirius_." James whispered in a nearly inaudible voice. Lily was too busy reprimanding Filch to notice and the caretaker himself was too busy cowering under Lily's rage. Only Mrs. Norris looked up at James, her head tilted in curiosity.

"Code 4." he whispered again, praying Sirius hadn't gone to bed yet.

"And I will go to Dumbledore if you're abusing your power, Filch." Lily finished her speech.

"Is that a threat, little Missy? I'll have you for threatening a figure of power, I will." Filch sneered unpleasantly

"No, Filch, it's a promise."

**BANG**

A colossal explosion sounded from somewhere above them. Mrs. Norris' hair stood on end as she yowled and shot into the darkness, most likely to find the guilty culprit. James struggled to look surprised, but knew it didn't fool Lily, who surreptitiously looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Filch looked even more infuriated and started raging at the ceiling.

"PEEVES!" he roared. "You blasted, good-for-nothing poltergeist! I'll have you this time!" He followed his beloved cat around the corner and out of sight.

"What did you do?" Lily asked him as the sounds of Filch's rage subsided. James was surprised to see that she looked admiring rather than accusing. Well, he had probably just saved them both from detention.  
>James pulled the mirror out of his robes, grinning.<p>

Lily looked from the mirror to his face and back, obviously confused.

"Sirius." James told the mirror clearly.

Sirius' flushed but triumphant face appeared. He was breathing heavily, which told James he'd had a narrow escape.

"Hey, mate!" Sirius greeted him. "How'd we do?"

"Perfectly." James replied. "Thanks, Padfoot."

"Do I get a thank-you from the lovely Ms. Evans? I was in bed, and I did drop a crystal ball through the floor for you." Sirius raised his eyebrows expectantly. James turned the mirror so that Sirius could see Lily's surprised face.

"Thanks, Sirius." she gave a small smile. "I owe you one."

"You bet." he replied, as though it were a given. "Next time I deserve detention, you can save me."

"Deal." she grinned. "Shouldn't take too long to long to repay the debt."

"Probably not." he shrugged. "Well, I'm off to bed. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"'Night." They bid farewell and James tucked the mirror back into his robes.

"That's amazing!" Lily exclaimed as they continued their walk back to their dorms. "Did you two design those?"

"Yup." James replied, glad she was impressed.

"Did you use _the proteanus orbicularis_ charm?"

"That's the one."

"That's a charm even a lot of adults struggle with. When did you make these?"

"Fourth year." James replied veraciously. He could immediately tell she didn't believe him.

"No way." she said skeptically.

"I'm serious!" he said earnestly.

"No, you're James. Sirius is the one with the long hair..." Lily cracked a grin. James couldn't help but burst out in laughter at the memory of their first ever less-than-hostile interaction.

"If you would've told me then, where I would be now, I would've said you had too much mead to drink." Lily said honestly.

"Tell me about it." His eyes glanced down to their fingers laced together.

"I know it's a bit late," Lily said, "but I really am sorry for the way I treated you the past couple of years." She blushed. "It's embarrassing to think of how over-dramatic and rude I was."

"Apology accepted." James smiled and gazed into her depthless eyes.

"What can I apologize for? For being an egotistical prat? For harassing you?" He poked her in the side teasingly. "Outperforming you in Transfiguration?"

Her lips twisted into a scowl, but her eyes smiled brightly.

"Apology accepted."

Lily pulled out her wand and tapped on the painting of Hogwarts. They ducked through the expanding hole to their cozy home, the fire crackling merrily. The grandfather clock read quarter after twelve. Lily stifled a yawn behind her hand.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted." They trudged up the stairs. James felt her exhaustion. How many hours ago had he bounded down these stairs full of energy? Eighteen hours? His reserves were wiped out.

"Well," said Lily when they reached her door. "Thanks for going with me. Did you have a good time?"

"Definitely." He smiled at the pleased look in Lily's eyes. "Even though I managed to lose, what, five rounds of exploding snap?"

She grinned. "Six."

"Well besides that, I think the highlight was Xeno hand fishing in your butterbeer." She giggled. "He's very-"

"Different?"

"Insane. Bordering on-"

"Enthusiastic?"

"Psychotic."

They both laughed.

Suddenly, Lily's arms were wrapped around his waist, her head buried in his robes. He was surprised, but held her close, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair, loving the soft warmth of her arms secure around him. She pulled away an inch, and looked up at him, flushed. He beamed down at her, memorizing the exact color of her eyes in the dim torchlight of the hallway.

"I really like you, James." she spoke, her whisper loud in the deep quiet. He never imagined he would hear Lily Evans speak those words. Well, he'd imagined it, but never thought he'd ever actually hear them.  
>He brushed the knuckles of his fingers down the side of her face gently, reveling in the soft and supple feel of her skin.<p>

"I really like you too, Lilypad." She lightly placed her hand over his. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Too many." he replied quietly. "Goodnight, Lily." He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. A short, satisfied sigh escaped her lips at his touch.

"Goodnight, James."

She slowly pulled her hand away from his and opened her door.

James walked down the hall, his thoughts scattered and his mind unable to complete even the most simple, conscious thought. With one last glance down the hall, he registered Lily' white face and slightly parted lips, still watching him from her doorway. James gave one last smile, and walked into his dorm, exhausted, exhilarated, and in utter euphoria.

**Let me know what you think! Yes, this means you! _You_, right there, reading this! I've almost got chapters 13 and 14 finished... the more reviews I get, the sooner I'll post the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I realize this is unforgivable. I can't ask you to forget the ten month break between chapters, and I'll totally understand if I have no readers after this. I am truly, genuinely, really, extraordinarily, guilt-riddenly sorry. I will not plague you with my excuses, though I assure you, they are many in number. I just hope you'll give me another chance to make it up to you! This is just the beginning of what was originally supposed to be a really long chapter 13, so please let me know if you want me to post the rest of it. I would like to know if anyone is still reading, so please review, even though I know I really don't deserve it. **

**So sorry.**

* * *

><p>Hey, Potter!" James looked down to see Bertha Jorkin's speculative, somewhat rat-like face alarmingly close to his own.<p>

"What?" James frowned, quickly backing away from Bertha. Although he would never say it aloud, he'd always been a bit repulsed by the girl, and not just because of her looks, (or rather, lack thereof.) She was a terrible gossip, and quite frankly, she was a bit of an idiot. Okay, a lot of an idiot.

"Is it true that you and Lily Evans are planning on eloping?"

"Excuse me?" If there was one area Bertha was talented in, it was her ability to keep track of inter-student relationships and drama, and she also had a gift for exaggeration. She was typically the reason why news spread so quickly through the school.

"Is it true that you and Evans are eloping?" she inquired clearly, her eyes squinting unpleasantly.

"Yes, of course it's true." James replied sarcastically.

Bertha's dark eyes gleamed devilishly. "Thanks, James." She scampered into the crowd.

"No- Bertha-" he called after her in exasperation. "I was just…"

But she was gone.

"Great." He muttered, knowing he would pay for his sarcasm later.

And indeed he did.

After dinner that night, James lay on his stomach on the couch in Head tower, Quidditch Through the Ages propped up on a pillow in front of his face. The fire blazed, enveloping him in a pleasant warmth, his feet dangled off the other end of the couch lazily.

There was a loud bang as Lily burst through the door, her usually sleek hair in disarray. "James!" she exclaimed, sounding distraught.

He gave a small jump of surprise and forgetting that he was lying down, tried to spin around, the result being his rolling off the couch and onto the floor with a painful thump.

"What?" James jumped up from the floor, book in hand, alert.

"Gwen told me that Quirinus told her that Rita told him that Bertha told her that you told her in secret that I'm pregnant and we're getting married over Christmas in France!"

James surveyed Lily's pale face, slightly open mouth, and panicked eyes.

They ogled at each-other for a moment, before James burst out laughing, and fell back onto the couch.

Lily stared at him for a moment with an expression of mingled exasperation and disbelief, then, after a moment, joined in.

She stumbled over and collapsed on the couch next to him with what appeared to be defeat.

"It's – not – funny!" she managed to choke out through her giggles.

This only made James laugh harder.

"Stop it!" she gasped, holding a stitch in her side.

"Sorry." James managed to compose himself in order to speak. "Not funny."

"No, it's not funny!" She clasped her hands over her mouth to hide her smile. "But I really don't want some stupid rumor going around that I'm... well, you know... pregnant." She sobered and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"You never specified." James said, fighting to maintain a straight face. "Is it my child?"

She whacked him with her book bag.

"Ouch!"

"Yes, it's your child, you arse!"

"Well," he rubbed his arm, casting her a reproachful glance. "That's fantasti—!" He changed his words at her glare. "—Er, bad. Very bad."

"Yes." She replied, seeming glad that he was grasping this concept.

"We'll have to fix this." He stroked his chin musingly.

Lily sunk back into the couch, her expression wary at the mischievous light in James's eyes.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we'll make a scene in the corridor tomorrow morning."

He watched as understanding bloomed across Lily's fair face.

"You mean we're going to stage a fight?" Her lips stretched into an impish grin.

James quirked an eyebrow. "Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?"

She shrugged. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well…" James mused, falling easily into the oh-so-familiar mode of scheming. "Let's say, 11:00, corridor of Boris the Bewildered. There's always a load of students there…"

* * *

><p>The next morning at 11:00 in the corridor of Boris the Bewildered, James nodded subtly to Lily. She quickly straightened up and slipped away from him, weaving through a group of fifth years and coming to stand in an angry posture on the other side of the corridor. She cast him a nervous glance.<p>

He winked.

Her chest rose and fell with a deep breath.

"James Potter, you are an inconsiderate, egoistic prat!" Lily shouted at him suddenly, pulling her hand out of her pocket, fist clenched around her wand.

James was almost truly scared for a moment by the abrupt change in Lily's face, even though he knew she was just acting. In a fraction of a second, her expression had gone from nervous apprehension to blazing fury. It was a rather frightening thing.

Through his peripheral vision, James saw several curious heads turn their way at Lily's exclamation.

"You've always been insufferable; won't you just leave me alone?" Lily raised her wand to point at his chest.

James plunged a hand into his robes and pulled out his wand with a flourish, pointing it straight at Lily's face. "Bring it on, muggleborn." He dared, voice mocking.

There was a collective gasp from the mob of students as Lily suddenly swept her wand through the air, shooting a nonverbal spell at James.

He could feel the eyes of dozens of adolescents on them now; they had everyone's attention.

"Protego." He flicked his wand lazily. Red sparks exploded in midair. Students shrieked and backed away, clueless to the fact that the ricochet would be harmless.

The point of this entire spectacle was to dredge up memories in the students' minds concerning the two heads, and remind them of how much Lily had hated James.

It would be a little stab to James's pride if everyone fell for their little trick. Did he really want the entire student body thinking that he would never be good enough for Lily? He shook off the thought quickly. It didn't really matter what everyone else thought, anyways. What were their opinions but vapors in the wind, really?

"Incendio!" James voiced, sending a jet of flames in Lily's direction. She let the curse hit her, and immediately flames sprung up from the floor, engulfing her in a pillar of ten foot tall flames. James had gone big for dramatic effect. These were not just puny, orange flames; these were enormous: a white hot inferno encircled Lily, indisputably dangerous, undeniably impressive.

Lily fell to her knees with a false shriek of pain amidst the flames, which were leaping wildly around her. Her robes gave off copious amounts of smoke, shrouding her from clear vision, but to the crowd, it would appear that Lily was ablaze; swallowed by fire.

Several bystanders screamed in shock and outrage; James distinctly heard a few phrases articulated that were definitely punishable by detention at Hogwarts.

Fortunately, James knew that Lily was discreetly performing a simple flame-freezing spell in the midst of the inferno and now enjoying a gentle tickling sensation.

They'd gotten the idea from Wendelin the Weird, who'd enjoyed the sensation so much that she'd allowed herself to be captured by witch-burners in the 1400s no less than forty-seven times.

"Hah!" James exclaimed triumphantly, raising his wand in the air.

"Augamenti!" Lily's voice cried out from the pillar of flames. She doused the conflagration with a torrent of water and shot another nonverbal spell at James in retaliation, which he deflected, swishing his wand theatrically.

"Is that all you've got?" he challenged loudly.

"Avis oppugno!" Lily shouted, her smoldering robes adding to the picture of rage.

James yelled in half-feigned terror as the flock of paper-mâché birds flew towards him, beaks clicking furiously. He turned and sprinted down the corridor and around the corner, waiting until he was out of sight to spin around to face the demonic birds.

"REDUCTO!" He flinched, expecting to feel the impact of sharp beaks and talons on his skin, but when he opened his eyes, all he saw was large amount of confetti sprinkling down onto his head.

He shook the paper out of his hair, contentedly listening to the clamor of clapping students in the distance.

They'd fallen for it! James laughed out loud, causing a nearby suit of armor to jump in alarm.

They would be talking about this little duel for months. James could just see the headline of Rita Skeeter's self-published school newspaper now:

_Lily Evans and James Potter battle it out in wizard's duel - enmity between the two stronger than ever!__  
><em>  
>James shook his head at the thought and pushed the suit of armor he had frightened back into its place against the wall. (Filch was constantly trying to fix this cowardly armor issue; more than once James heard Dumbledore joke that he didn't' think it "suitable" for the armor to be so easily frightened.)<p>

James adjusted the armor's war axe into its previously proper hazardous position and set off to Care of Magical Creatures, still pulling confetti out from the inside of his hood.

Care of Magical Creatures ended up being rather exciting: this week the class was studying hippogriffs, and Professor Kettleburn managed to get a hold of half a dozen of the great creatures. They began with studying a diagram of a hippogriff from their books, then Professor Kettleburn lectured them on how to approach and mount a hippogriff. Finally, the professor let the class spread out and near the massive beasts. James, Sirius, and Peter slowly approached a chestnut-colored hippogriff named Featherbeak, making sure not to break eye contact. James stepped forward and bent at the waist into a bow. The hippogriff sunk to its knees after a moment, allowing James to draw nearer. After a few minutes of petting his beak, James mounted Featherbeak and patted his feathers fondly.

"Oi!" Sirius called up to him. "Maybe you should get down now!"

"I just got on!" James frowned.

"Yes, but I'm not sure Featherbeak here can carry the wait of your overly large head." Sirius grinned.

"Oh, shut up, you idiot." James rolled his eyes. "I know you just want a go." Suddenly he was thrown forward as Featherbeak clawed the ground viciously and shook his great head.

"Woah!" James' instinct was to immediately grab onto something, and without thinking, he took hold of the feathers on Featherbeak's crest to keep steady. That was a mistake. The hippogriff let out a hair-raising screech of pain and reared up onto his hind legs. The feathers slipped underneath James's fingers, and gravity forced him to tumble backwards off of the animal and onto the ground with a painful _thud, _landing on his side. The air whooshed out of his lungs_._ Featherbeak screeched angrily again, and James quickly tucked his elbows in and rolled away, afraid of the massive talons that took place of hooves on the forelegs of a hippogriff. Once out from under the hippogriff, James jumped to his feet, feeling the fall in the side of his body that he landed on, pain lancing through his hip, shoulder, and ribs.

"Featherbeak!" Professor Kettleburn hobbled over, a dead ferret waving in his hand. "Calm down, would you?" He tossed the ferret to Featherbeak, who caught it in his beak, dropped to all fours, and contentedly began tearing apart the meat.

Peter rushed over to James, his eyes wide. "Are you all right?" he squeaked.

"I think so." James breathed in heavily, determining if any of his ribs were cracked. They seemed to be okay.

"Smooth, Prongs." Sirius loped over. "That'll definitely get you the ladies."

"What happened?" Peter glanced around at the surrounding hippogriffs in terror, as though one of them was going to swoop down at devour him at any moment.

"I think Featherbeak thought I was calling him an idiot." James grumbled, beating the dirt from his robes.

Sirius barked a laugh. "Guess you should have thought of that before you insulted me!"

"Professor Kettleburn did say to be careful what you say around them." Peter nodded.

James shook his head and watched as Professor Kettleburn checked Featherbeak for injuries and began limping toward James. James hoped that the hippogriff wasn't hurt, despite being thrown off rather rudely by the brute.

"Did you insult him, Potter?" the teacher growled. "He seems fine, just slightly offended, and a small patch of feathers missin'."

"I think he misunderstood me, Professor."

"You're all right, aren't you?" the Professor peered at him. "Threw ya off pretty hard, did he?"

"I'm okay." James shrugged, shooting Sirius an askance glare.

"Well make sure you check in with Madam Pomfrey if you feel somethin's broken or banged up too bad."

"All right." James rubbed his shoulder in discomfort.

"That's all for today, class!" Professor Kettleburn turned around to face the rest of the students. I want a two feet of parchment on the history of hippogriffs! Due Monday!"

On the way back to the castle for lunch, the three marauders discussed their essay on the history of hippogriffs.

"I will pay you three gaellons to write my essay, Prongs." Sirius bartered.

"But then I have to write two essays, make them different, and forge your handwriting, Padfoot." James shook his head. "I think that's worth more than three gaellons."

"Fine, five gaellons, but nothing over."

"I don't know mate, that still seems pretty cheap to me. I can't even take a girl out for a nice dinner with five gaellons."

They bantered all the way back to the castle, Remus chiming in that he should turn them in to McGonagall for doing each-other's work.

"Hey!" Lily's whispered voice caught James's attention as they were about to walk into the Great Hall for lunch. He looked around for the source of her voice and found her bright green eyes peering at him from around the corner.

James looked back at his friends. Only Remus had noticed Lily's summoning, and nodded at James, indicating that he should go speak with her.

"I'll catch up with you guys, okay?" James hurriedly waved and headed towards Lily.

"'Scuse me." he battled against the body of students heading into the Great Hall. "Sorry." He muttered as he trod on a tiny blonde boy's robes.

As soon as he broke free of the swarm, he darted around the corner, into a faintly lit passage. "Hey." He cast his eyes around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. A few ghosts floated through the passage's stone walls and into the Great Hall, but they didn't much involve themselves in the affairs of the students.

"How do you think we did this morning?" She grinned puckishly.

"You were amazing!" he grinned back at her. "And you're all right?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed, her eyes bright. "I didn't feel a thing! Can we do that more often?"

James laughed. "Whatever you wish, Wendelin the Weird."

"That wasn't the only part I enjoyed." She retorted defensively.

"Well then, it rather frightens me that you take so much delight in in hexing me," he chuckled.

"I have been wanting to send that flock of birds after you for years." She admitted.

"Well, I'm glad you did it then, as opposed to a time when I wasn't expecting it." He raised his eyebrows. "Mulciber didn't seem to enjoy it much when you did it to him."

"No, he didn't, did he?" Lily smirked. "Anyways, do you think we fooled them?"

"Most definitely." He nodded. "I don't think they'll expect that you have any sort of affectionate feelings towards me whatsoever after that."

Lily's head tilted slightly to the side, sending a cascade of red hair down to her hip. "I really appreciate you doing this, James." She said, her eyes becoming serious. "I know this is probably a bit humiliating for you."

He felt a genuine smile spread across his lips as he reached down to stroke the side of her face with his knuckles.

"Well, we can't have people thinking that we can actually tolerate each-other, now can we?"

She bit her lip. "I don't care if everyone knows how I feel about – you know, us –," she gazed at him shyly through her long lashes. "but I just don't want these ridiculous rumors going around. That's all, really." She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, then down along his jaw, causing goosebumps to rise on his arms. "I'm not embarrassed of-" her fingers lingered at his cheek, "this."

He took her hand and pressed his lips against her fingers gently. "Neither am I." he smiled. "So where does that leave us?"

"I suppose we'll let this whole debacle calm down." She shrugged. "And then, after everyone forgets about the fanatical rumors about me," she patted her stomach. "we'll just… be ourselves."

"So I suppose we probably shouldn't walk in there and eat lunch together." James tilted his head to where the muffled voices of hundreds of students sounded from.

Lily's lips twisted into a small smile "Probably not."

It was amazing for James to know that look in her eyes was really wistfulness, and not just a figment of his ego. He loved knowing that she truthfully cared for him.

"I do feel like I've been neglecting my other friends though." Lily frowned. "I haven't chatted with Marlene in ages."

"All right." James said matter-of- factly, releasing her fingers from his grip. "You go spend some time with Marlene and Alice. I'll be right down the table with the Marauders. We'll just try not to appear too friendly."

"Okay." She conciliated, heading out of the passage, then turning back to see why he wasn't following her.

He mussed her hair gently and grinned. "I'll follow you out in a minute. We don't want to make it look like we were together, right?"

"Oh," she frowned. "right." She gave a little wave and turned to leave with a certain, wistful sadness in her eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**I know I can't make up for a ten month break by updating regularly now, but I can try!**

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><p>It turned out that James did not have to worry about everyone thinking he was pathetically unworthy of Lily's attention: their little duel did nothing to quash rumors of romance between them. In fact, it seemed to make them much worse. Instead of the headline James had envisioned on Rita's newspaper, this one took its place:<p>

_Lily Evans Crushes James Potter in Wizard's Duel – Potter to be Charged with Sexual Harassment?_

The Slytherins were ruthless, mocking James at every turn possible for being beaten in a duel by a girl, especially a muggleborn girl. James would have been thick to not anticipate that, but the story was more widely spread than he thought it might be, and with some very extravagant embellishments, he noticed.

For example, he heard a sixth year Ravenclaw with very curly brown hair claim that she saw Lily punch him across the face right before an enormous flock of full-fledged ostriches chased him away. Another version of the tale claimed that Lily's hair had caught on fire, leaving her partially bald so that she had to go to the hospital wing to get it re-grown by Madame Pomfrey.

The curly headed brunette was not the only one fabricating things: few people seemed to be satisfied by the real story, so they started inventing their own take on what happened. Fortunately, not many people knew Rita Skeeter's printed theory, since Professor McGonogall had apparently revoked the print mere hours after it hit the breakfast tables the day after the duel. Neither James nor Lily had read the article, but Lily heard from a couple of girls who had: apparently Skeeter's theory was very crude indeed, and not at all appropriate for first years' viewing. Unfortunately, despite the revocation of Rita's paper, many people were still speculating about what James could have possibly done to make Lily so angry.

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><p>"Well, remember that one time she blew up at him in fifth year for messing with that Snape kid?"<p>

"Oh, yeah, but I heard they weren't friends anymore after he called her the 'M' word."

James rolled his eyes at the two third years who apparently didn't realize he was sitting directly behind them at breakfast. Lily and James's duel had occurred a week ago, and people were still talking about it. The rest of the marauders were also listening in: Peter's fist was stuffed in his mouth, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, while Sirius smirked and Remus just shook his head.

James wished Lily were here to hear this, but she was sitting down at the other end of the Gryffindor table with Alice and a few of her other past dorm-mates. He'd catch her eye once in awhile and grin, missing her conversation, but glad they were sticking with their agreement on spending time with their other friends.

"Well maybe they made up and started dating so James got mad..."

"No way. You know that Potter and Evans went to Slughorn's party together. Why would they have gone together if Snape and Evans were dating?"

"Maybe she's secretly seeing both of them."

Over the last couple days, it had gotten rather wearing, so James just stood up tall from the breakfast table and yawned, stretching his long arms above his head ostentatiously.

"Lovely morning isn't it?" he drawled, waving cheerfully at the two startled Hufflepuffs.

They gawked at him, mouths open in stunned surprise.

James gazed back at them for a minute, then strode down the aisle and left the Great Hall, the rest of the Marauders following after him in mirth.

"So how is it going with Evans, Prongs?" Sirius asked James, once their laughter had subsided.

"Fine." James said quickly, feeling heat rapidly rise to his ears.

"Red ears." Remus muttered, grinning widely.

"Shut up." James good-naturedly shoved his friend into the wall.

He'd, of course, told them about their faked duel and the reasons behind it (Lily's supposed pregnancy), but he hadn't much gotten into Slughorn's party, or his and Lily's very-near kiss afterwards and the declarations of affection that preceded it. It wasn't something that he really felt particularly comfortable talking about, even with his close mates.

He'd mentally gone over that particular moment in the hall in his head so many times, wondering if he should've just taken the leap. Would there ever be another moment so perfect?

"Come on, Prongs." Peter looked up at James eagerly. "Tell us what's going on. You've been so secretive lately."

"Well, what do you want to know?" James made a face and tried to sound casual.

"Let's see," Sirius cut in matter-of-factly, counting on his fingertips "One. Do you fancy Lily?"

"Next question." James replied, casting his comrade a resentful glance.

"That's the easiest one!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air.

"That sort of question is not as easy to answer as you would think." He replied  
>speciously.<p>

"Come off it, Prongs." Remus swept his fawn colored hair out of his tired eyes. "We've all known that you've fancied her for years. What Padfoot is trying to ask is, how much do you actually fancy her?"

"Quite a fair amount." James shrugged, struggling to keep his voice nonchalant. He felt Remus' dubious blue eyes staring at him.

"You're such a liar, Prongs." He accused blatantly. "You're in love with that girl. You and we both know it."

James felt the heat creeping up his neck again. "Well then, why do you have to ask?"

Remus shrugged. "I'm not the one-"

"To make your life miserable." Sirius supplied, grinning widely at James's embarrassment. "And also to add a little humility to your existence."

"Like I could learn a lesson in humility from you." James retorted ruefully.

Sirius shrugged. "I never said you could learn humility by observing me, I simply stated that you could be unencumbered of your pride because of me."

"So you fancy Lily a lot, that much is obvious." Remus cut in. "The question is, does she feel the same?"

"I think so." James admitted, his euphoria betrayed by the uncontrollable grin spreading across his face.

"What makes you sound so sure?" Peter inquired, his voice curious.

"Er, well, she kind of - said so." James admitted, ruffling his own hair out of habit.

All three of his mates stopped in their tracks in the middle of the corridor.

"What?" Sirius and Remus ogled at him.

"No way!" Peter exclaimed, his face lighting up. "What were her exact words?"

"Honestly, Peter?" James surveyed him dubiously. "Are we second-year girls, here?"

"No." Peter flushed. "Sorry, I was just - well, I meant..." he trailed off, and stared down at his shoes in embarrassment.

James immediately regretted his thoughtless retort: in all the time he'd been spending bantering easily with Lily, he'd forgotten how sensitive Peter could be.

"Have you asked her out?" Remus asked before James had a chance to apologize.

Sirius let out his signature, bark-like laugh. "Where have you been the past three years, Moony?"

"Well, obviously I know that James has asked her out." Remus rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "I was referring to the time period since she has apparently admitted her love for him."

"Which I'm not quite sure I believe yet." Sirius mused, narrowing his eyes at James.

"You think I'm lying?" James dropped his jaw in mock outrage. "I'm deeply hurt, Padfoot."

"I don't know." Sirius shrugged. "It just seems so unlikely. Either the girl suffers from a psychological disorder such as bipolar disorder, mania, or insanity-"

James punched him in the shoulder.

"Or you've changed a lot more than I realized since she went mad on you in fifth year ." Sirius finished, glaring at James ruefully.

"Well I don't think Lily suffers from mania," Remus assured James. "But she was telling me a few weeks ago how she was amazed at the abrupt change in your personality. I told her that if she would've interacted with you in any way last year she would've found that the change wasn't as abrupt as she perceived."

"Yeah, we've talked about that a bit." James replied, smiling at the memory of their coffee date in Hogsmeade. "But we agreed that I'm not the only one who's changed"

"I haven't thought about it much, but I suppose you're right," he mused. "She's quite a bit different from that fiery character she was a few years ago. She's much more easy-going now."

The bell rang, warning the students that class would begin in one minute.

"I'll see you at Potions in a few." James ducked into the boys' lavatory. "Save me a seat."

"Will do." Sirius saluted him and the three of them continued down the hall toward the dungeons, gossiping like old women, James was sure.

The second bell had just rung, signaling the beginning of class when James stepped out of the loo, drying the water on his hands off on his robes. He started slightly as Snape appeared in front of him, his thin lips set in a severe, determined line. They were both late for class, and the corridor was deserted.

"Potter." Snape spat, his nostrils flaring unpleasantly.

"Snape." James greeted him stiffly, immediately on guard.

There was an awkward moment of silence. What do you say to someone after nearly six and a half years of dislike? James fiddled with the strap of his book bag.

"Where's your entourage?" Snape glanced around, as though expecting the rest of the marauders to jump out of the suits of armor lining the walls.

"Oh, they just went ahead to Potions." James said truthfully, hoping that Snape would realize that they were expecting to see him in class any minute. He wasn't afraid of a fight, but he'd learned over time that sometimes the action wasn't worth the consequence.

Snape just stared at him with those blank, black eyes. James felt strangely like Snape had intentionally planned this interaction, and by his posture, he seemed to have his fist curled around his wand in his robe's pocket.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around…" James slowly began walking around Snape towards the dungeons.

"Is it true?" Snape asked coolly.

"What?" James turned around.

"Is it true you cursed Lily in the corridor last week?" A strand of greasy black hair hung in front of Snape' sallow face. James noticed that he seemed to be trying to grow a goatee.

It was not working well.

"Er, well, not really." James frowned.

"That's not what I heard." Snape scowled, scuffing his worn shoe against the floor. "I heard you cursed her… that you made her scream- a- and burst into flames." Snape's voice cracked, his hard mask faltering. James stared at him, amazed. Snape, showing emotion?

"It was fake." James explained honestly, caught off guard by Snape's vulnerability. "We were just trying to squash all the rumors that she's, you know, pregnant with my child and what not-"

Apparently this was quite the wrong thing to say, because Snape's head snapped upward, his eyes narrowed in anger. He whipped his wand out.

"Sectumsempra!"

James vaguely recognized the incantation as he dived out of the way. It was the one Mulciber had tried to use on Lily, the one she had warned him about. The spell missed James by a foot and instead smashed into the wall, knocking out several stones.

"You-!" James spat furiously, unable to think of a word bad enough to attribute to Snape. He whipped out his own wand. "Incarcerous!"

Snape flicked his wand to nonverbally repel the spell.

"Stupefy!"

Again, Snape blocked it silently.

This time James tried a nonverbal, hoping it would give Snape less time to react. He thought with all his might, _Flipendo!_

Snape dodged the spell, but it hit his book bag, sending several textbooks flying across the corridor.

"Fight back!" James bellowed angrily. "Fight back, you coward!"

Snape's face fell back into the familiar, emotionless mask. His eyes went blank.

"_Don't_ call me a coward_._" He flung his wand upward, blindingly fast, too quickly for James to react. "_Confringo!_"

James soared backwards into the air. For a nanosecond of bliss, he was flying, surrounded by hovering school books.

Then, excruciating pain consumed him as his head made contact with the stone with a sickening thud. He slid down the wall as the contents of his book bag rained down on him.

Bright tiny specks swam in his vision, blurry due to the fact that his glasses had been knocked off and also possibly because he had been smacked in the face with _Total Transfiguration_ . Even though Snape's face was blurry, James could still see his eyes ablaze. "If you ever hurt Lily again," Snape threatened. "I _will_ kill you."

These words sent a shiver down James's spine, but not the good kind, like those caused by Lily's soft touch... More like the shivers you get when you know your life could be endangered.

Snape collected his own books from the floor and with that, he stalked down the corridor and out of sight.

James sat, slumped against the wall for quite some time, recuperating

Snape and he hadn't had a duel in a long time. It vexed him, and made him very angry that Snape still seemed to care so much about Lily.

Stupid git.

After a long time, James found the energy to use the wall and heave himself up off the floor so he could collect his things. He felt something warm drip onto the back of neck when he bent over to pick up his copy of _Cheats for Charms__._

He looked up at the ceiling, fully expecting to see Peeves dripping toad urine or something equally disgusting on him from the lighting fixture, but no sign of Peeves. James ran his fingers cautiously over the back of his skull, and pulled it away dripping with scarlet.

He sighed and swung his bag over his shoulder again, and set off to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey would fix him up just fine, but now he would completely miss Potions, and have to answer questions from Slughorn, the Marauders, and Lily.

"Potter," Madam Pomfrey said reprovingly when he showed up at the doors of the hospital wing. "What this time?"

"Er, I slipped," he fibbed. "In a puddle of slug mucus in the corridor. I think Peeves probably dumped there as a joke."

If there was anything James had learned over his years of pranking at Hogwarts, it was w_hen in doubt, blame Peeves._

She tutted and shook her head. "Well I'll get Argus to clean that up right away so no one else-"

"Don't worry about it, Madam Pomfrey," James interrupted. "I already did."

"Oh, you're such a dear." she smiled maternally at him. "But why aren't you covered in slug mucus?"

"I know it may be a foreign concept to you, but 'Scourgify' has other uses besides cleaning up blood." James joked.

"Well, come on, then." Madam Pomfrey ushered him into the wing. "You know the drill."

James flopped heavily onto the nearest mattress. He'd had worse injuries over the years, but his head really did hurt.

"Oh, Potter." James could practically hear Madam Pomfrey shaking her head as she examined the wound.

James wasn't sure why he'd lied to Madam Pomfrey about how he'd cracked his head open. He could probably tell on Snape and get him expelled, but neither of the boys had ever involved teachers in their wage against each-other. James had been too proud to complain when Snape injured him, Snape too embarrassed. And now, really, the last thing James need was another rumor going around that Severus Snape had put James Potter in the hospital wing, even if it was true.

He winced as Madam Pomfrey cleaned out his wound with a familiar, acrid-smelling substance.

He thought of what he should tell Lily while the nurse worked on him. Surely, Lily would have noticed his absence from Potions by now. Should he tell her the truth? What if she got mad at him for dueling with Snape again?

"Turn your head a bit to the right, dear."

James obliged, feeling a warm trail of blood trickling down into his ear.

He knew that Lily was angry with Snape, but maybe she still cared for him, like he seemed to care for her. James couldn't possibly fathom why she had ever been friends with Snape. She was so loveable, and charming, and sweet, and he was so… not.

Come to think of it, he didn't even know how they became friends. They'd been on the train together the very first day. Did they live in the same town? Did they still see each-other over the holidays? He would have to ask her about it.

"All right, you're set, Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey said after a while. "It's hard to see beneath this mop of hair, but I think it's all sealed up."

"Thanks Madam Pomfrey." James gently ran his fingers over the back of his head. It was tender, but clean, and didn't hurt as much.

"No quidditch for a couple of days, got that, Potter?" Madam Pomfrey instructed with a business-like tone.

James slumped his shoulders. "Okay."

"You've got a concussion." She raised her eyebrows. "Trust me; you don't want to take a bludger to the back of the head anytime soon."

James flinched at the thought.

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><p><strong>It would be really lovely of you to review! It would take, like thirty seconds to tell me what you think. Unless you really, really, hate it... then it might take longer, but I don't know why you would still be reading. So yeah, please review!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! So I don't know if I can keep up this updating spree, but I really feel awful about that long break, so I'm trying to make it up to you. **

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><p>Ten minutes later, James slipped quietly into Potions. Slughorn didn't notice; he was already checking the students' potions. He seemed to be retching slightly after smelling Peter's blood-thinning potion, which was emitting copious amounts of murky, yellowish-brown smog.<p>

James took a seat at an empty desk in the back of the classroom, intending to wait until class ended and explain to Slughorn why he failed to show up for class (slug-mucus version.) James re-considered his fib for a moment. Perhaps he would alter his tale to slipping in snail mucus instead.

James pulled out his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ out of his bag and turned to the index, searching for 'blood thinning potion,' but something on the back cover caught his eye.

_This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince._

The half-blood prince? James frowned. He certainly hadn't written that, and it wasn't any of the Marauders' writing.

He flipped to the middle of the textbook. Every margin was stuffed full of notes. Even portions of the text were scratched out and written over. He thumbed through the pages. Few pages were devoid of the slanted hand-writing. There were even some spells scribbled down in the page corners that James had never heard of.

Muffliato, langlock, even one that was defined as a defensive spell described as one to make your enemies toenails grow at an alarming rate. He also came across a few more familiar-looking spells, such as Levicorpus, and Sectumsempra, the curse that Snape had – _Snape_! This must be Snape's potions book! They must have gotten them mixed up during their little scuffle. James checked his bag, and indeed, his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ was not there.

Fantastic. James was sure that Snape would be so very understanding and just switch back books, no questions asked. Yeah. Right.

James had no particular desire to hunt down Snape. His head gave a particularly painful throb with the thought. No particular desire indeed. The mention of Lily's surname caught his attention, forcing him out of his inattentive, agitated state.

"Well done, Ms. Evans, splendidly done, simply splendid!" Slughorn exclaimed, deeply inhaling Lily's potion, a deep shimmering red concoction. "Although none of us are surprised, I'm sure!"

Lily beamed as Slughorn moved on. She seemed to feel James's eyes on her, because she turned her head, and scanned the room. She met James's eye.

_Where were you?_ she mouthed, her eyebrows pulled together in a straight line.

He shrugged and mouthed back, _Later._

She frowned, but turned back to face Slughorn, who was assigning homework. James scribbled down their assignment, (If a muggle is in need of medical assistance and we have the magical means to heal them, should we? Discuss.)

James fought against the crowd pushing towards the exit as Slughorn dismissed them. He cast Remus, Sirius, and Peter a cheerful smile and wave to assure them that he was okay. Only Remus looked concerned. Well, Peter looked a bit distraught, but he always looked like that after Potions. It was a miracle that he got into NEWT level for Slughorn's class at all, and it had only been done with a lot of help from the rest of the marauders, and quite a bit of grace from Slughorn.

A small hand gently slipped into his. _Lily_.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Course." He replied breezily, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze as he looked over her head for the Potions Master . "I'm just going to apologize to Slughorn, all right?"

"You have crusted blood on your forehead." He looked down to meet her eyes slowly. She was staring at him with enough intensity to burn a hole through his brain.

James felt like a very small and guilty child as she raised her eyebrows expectantly. "We'll talk later, all right?"

She was clearly unsatisfied, but nodded and released his hand.

He watched her head bob away with the rest of the students, then approached Slughorn's desk to a lovely view of the professor's overlarge backside. His head was buried in a cupboard full of small, decorative, yellow boxes. A slightly sugary smell confirmed James's suspicion that the boxes contained a certain sort of crystallized fruit. James cleared his throat loudly.

Slughorn quickly jerked his head upward, smacking the top of his head on the roof of the cupboard.

"Merlin's beard, James!" Slughorn exclaimed, spinning around remarkably quick for such a large man. He swiftly wiped sugar from his lips

"Sorry, professor. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Oh, it's all right." he waved a hand leniently. "I noticed your absence today. Are you feeling quite well?" He asked, massaging his bald spot where it had collided with the cupboard.

"I'm all right, sir." James assured him. "Just had a little slu-snail mucus-related accident in the corridor and paid a little visit to Madam Pomfrey. Nothing serious, but I just wanted to apologize for missing class."

"Don't worry yourself." Slughorn waved a hand leniently. "Just do the homework best you can – did you get the assignment?"

James nodded.

"Then you're all set."

"Well, actually, there's one more thing, Sir." James spoke on a sudden whim.

"What's that?"

He pulled out Snape's Potions book and handed it to Slughorn. "Could you give this to Snape next time he comes in for class? He, er, lent it to me the other day." Snape could keep James's Potions book, too, he didn't really care, as long as he didn't have to go near Snape.

"Sure, sure." Slughorn took the book in his meaty hand and smiled at James brightly. "I didn't know you and Severus were on such good terms! Good for you, resolving old issues, mending severed ties..."

James gave a grim smile. Slughorn opened a cupboard full of old copies of _Advanced Potion Making_ and threw Snape's in.

"Thanks." James set off; glad that he would not have to speak to Snape again anytime soon.

"Anytime, Mr. Potter! And expect an invitation by owl post sometime soon. I enjoyed seeing you at my Slug Club gathering last week!" He gave James one last hearty wink.

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><p>"Hey, Potter! Is it true Snape landed you in the hospital wing?"<p>

Now James was really tired of the gossip. He was exhausted, his head hurt, and he'd just gotten told off for daydreaming in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He'd been late for that too, and Lily had just rushed off to Ancient Runes, so he hadn't yet told her what had happened… He was actually still debating whether he should or not. Although, apparently everyone knew that Snape and James had dueled, so there really was no point in trying to lie to her. He was just afraid that she would think he'd instigated the fight. And should he tell her what Snape had said?

_If you hurt Lily again, I will kill you_. The words shouldn't bother him. He had never really hurt Lily, and he never would. But it actually scared James, mainly because if Snape was interested in being a death eater, which he clearly was, he wasn't opposed to the idea of unjustified murder.

James shook off the morbid thoughts and trudged on to Divination, eager for the day to end.

Professor Kirk was in the middle of a long-winded speech about the correlation between Pluto and inopportune luck when it hit James, hard.

He started as suddenly as if someone had slapped him across the face, quickly swung his bag around his chair and started digging through it furiously.

Please let it be in here, he prayed fervently. It had been in Terminology of Herbology, 7th edition, he was sure. He plucked the book out of his bag. It seemed much too worn out…

It wasn't his.

He frantically flipped to the back page, just to be sure. Scrawled in the corner were the same words: _This book is property of the Half-Blood Prince._

He slammed the book shut, incensed.

"Prongs?" Sirius hissed, casting him a concerned glance. James shoved _Terminology of Herbology_ aside and proceeded to take out each of his books and search them, not caring that the rustling pages were making a ruckus. As a last resort, he dumped his bag upside-down on his desk, scattering quills and inkwells everywhere.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor Kirk stared at him with alarmed eyes. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I – er, couldn't find a sharp quill, sir." James managed to stutter, barely conscious of everyone's eyes on him.

"Well, I see you have one now." The professor eyed James's desk, littered with fresh, though distinctly ruffled quills.

"Er, yes." James picked up a quill from his desk sheepishly. "Sorry."

Professor Kirk resumed his lecture with a shake of his head. James sunk lower in his seat. The marauder's map was gone, and in the hands of the worst person possible – Severus Snape.

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><p>When Sirius and Peter approached him after class, James promised to talk to them later, and his bad mood seemed to progress as the day went on. The notion of telling Dumbledore what had happened was torturous; but telling the marauders would be an experience similar to pouring sulfuric acid into his own eyes. They would be so disappointed. Peter had lost the map several times; all of them had misplaced it once or twice, but none of them had ever lost it to enemy hands before. He told the Quidditch team to practice without him, because of his head, which was throbbing steadily again.<p>

He made his way to dinner, impatient to spend time with Lily, but she was mysteriously absent from the Gryffindor table. He instead sat with Wormtail, (Sirius was at practice, Remus, Charms club) and ate his ham pie in silence, besides the whispers that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

Afterwards, he considered going to hang out with Peter and Remus in Gryffindor Tower, but the recollection of the noisy uproar of the Gryffindor common room deterred him. Instead, he escaped to the library to work on his Potions essay, which was twice as difficult to complete since he'd missed the lesson. He found a quiet table in the back of the library where no one would bother him and set to work. He scratched across the top of a fresh piece of parchment,

_If a muggle is in need of medical assistance and we have the magical means to heal them, we should._

_Okay, James_. He pressed his palms into his eye sockets, his elbows resting on the table. We should help muggles, but how, without revealing our secret?

He began listing his ideas and reasons at a slow, methodical pace. He felt his eyes grow heavy as the hour grew late, and tried not to think of the marauder's map, or the flying rumors, or Snape's livid face. Maybe Snape hadn't found the map yet. There was a good chance that he didn't look at his Herbology textbook every day…

James stared unseeingly at the library's copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ and tried to figure out how to get the map back. Maybe he could switch back books before Snape realized…

It killed him to think of their precious work, in Snape's greasy hands.

James consciousness seemed to slowly separate from his body as his mind shut down. Snape was there, in his imagination, his fingers slick with black oil… or was it ink? His fingers elongated, becoming tentacles of a miniature octopus, which crawled up Snape's arm, leaving a trail of black ink. The dark liquid slowly oozed into the shape of a dark mark, changing from the black of night to the dark, thick red of blood.

"Out! _OUT_!" Madam Pince screeched, bringing James abruptly back to awareness by thwacking him on the back of his already very sore head with an_ Encyclopedia of Toadstools_. "The library is a place of study, not of sleep! And we're now closed!"

She waved her wand over his place at the table, so that his belongings came to life and started hitting him, forcing him up out of his chair.

Madame Pince and his possessions drove him out of the library and through the door, which slammed closed behind him. His papers and quills clattered to the floor, lifeless, in the hallway.

He felt like yelling in pure aggravation, but felt this wasn't proper Head Boy behavior, so instead bent down and picked up all his things for the second time that day, using some of his favorite choice words to depict Madame Pince under his breath.

Finally, he straightened up and checked his watch. It was only ten o' clock, but -

"Hey! Potter—!"

James had had it. "WHAT?"

"Er."

He spun around.

It was Lily.

She had a wicker basket tucked under one arm, and a disconcerted expression on her flushed face.

He had never seen anything so beautiful.

"Oh." He gave a relieved smile. "It's you."

"Yes it's me." Lily raised her eyebrows. "You know, it's rather rude to shout at someone before you even know—" He closed the distance between them in three long strides and swept her up into his arms, inhaling the scent of fresh parchment and sweet berries.

"Oh!" she gasped as her feet left the floor.

"Sorry." James hastily set her down. He paused for a moment to drink in the view of her, with her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes and effervescent smile. "I've had a pretty awful day. You have no idea how good it is to see you."

"You want to go on a walk and talk about it?" Lily asked, her eyes communicating sympathy.

He frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "Lily, it's ten o' clock. The doors are already locked. What are you doing out here anyways? And what's in the basket?"

She smiled, reached up, and smoothed the top of his hair, sending a tingle down the back of his neck. "You seem a little disoriented."

He shook his head. "Just a little. So what's in the basket?"

"I grabbed some dessert for us." She said proudly, showing James the basket. In it lay several raspberry tarts, and from the smell of them, fresh from the house-elves' ovens.

"You went to the kitchens?"

"Yup." She nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I nipped in to update them on the Christmas Ball and ended up staying to help them make dinner!"

James felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair. "Oh."

"It was quite fun, really." She shrugged. "So do you want to grab a jacket and take a walk around the lake?"

"Sure." James said, eager at the prospect of finally getting to spend some time with Lily. His nap in the library hadn't been exactly refreshing, but, Lily's vigor was contagious. "So how are you?" He asked cheerfully, taking her hand in his own and setting off towards their tower.

"Me?" she surveyed him dubiously. "Fine. What's going on with you? I've been… hearing things."

He shook his head. "It's been a long day."

"I heard that Severus beat you in a duel." James felt Lily's eyes flicker suspiciously to his forehead, where the stain of blood had betrayed him earlier.

"You of all people should know that you can't believe everything you hear." He joked. "How's the baby coming along?"

She rolled her eyes, but laughed and patted her flat stomach. "Quite well, thanks for asking." Her playful tone suddenly turned serious. "How's your cracked skull?"

James turned his head sharply towards her, disconcerted. "How'd you know?"

She smiled in a sad, knowing way. "I ran into Sirius on his way to Quidditch practice, and he mentioned that you were skipping because of a concussion. It doesn't take a genius to put the truth and rumors together." Her hand clenched in his for a moment, and her next words were barely a whisper. "What did he do to you?"

"Hey." He swung her around to face him, taking her other hand in his. "I'm okay. It's not a big deal." He was alarmed to see that her eyes, jade in the darkness, glistened with moisture. "Lily…"

She sniffed and hastily wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I just… him, and you, getting hurt, and then Voldemort and everything…." James pulled Lily in to his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her, as though he could protect her from distress.

He rested his chin on the top of her head. "Don't worry about me."

She pulled back and looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "Stop being attracted to me."

He laughed. "Impossible."

"You see my point, then."

"I didn't know I was that obvious." He mused, his eyebrows high on his forehead.

"You're only as subtle as a bludger." She grinned.

"And you sure know how to ruin a moment." He grinned back, pulling out of their embrace.

"I guess I'm not exactly comfortable with the whole 'emotionally vulnerable' thing yet." She admitted, putting her hand back into his as they started walking again.

"Well, I must admit, I would be a little frightened if you started balling your eyes out on me."

"I thought I already did that. It didn't scare you away." She gave him a cute little smile. "But I still want to know what happened with you and Sev - erus."

James shook his head "It was stupid, but if you really want to know…"

"I do." She said asserted. "I want to know how harshly I should jinx him tomorrow." It was rather amusing. On the one hand, she was tiny and feminine, the picture of innocence, with a wicker basket tucked under one arm, but the incensed glint in her eye was alarming.

James shook his head. "Well, it was actually about you, I guess."

"You were fighting over me?" she seemed to be struggling to keep her voice even.

"I guess you could say that." He sighed deeply. "I really didn't try to pick a fight, Lils, honestly. It was kind of unavoidable."

"I believe you." Her fingers tightened around his. "Go on, then, what'd he do?"

Lily listened attentively, occasionally nodding and grimacing as James told her honestly what had happened, even Snape's morbid warning.

"What?" Lily cried at this point. "He is _so_ melodramatic!"

James couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I thought so too. But that's not the end of everything. It gets worse."

"What could be worse than cracking your head open?" She seemed to be steeling herself.

"Well, after I went to the hospital wing and everything, I realized. Snape... kind of, took the map. Without even realizing it."

The smile slid off her face like stinksap. "What?"

He turned to her, distressed to see the horror in her eyes. "Our books got mixed up and the map was in my herbology textbook."

"Oh, no… James." Lily bit her lip anxiously. "This isn't good."

"I know." James moaned.

"At least they can't get in it, right? The whole 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' thing."

"Right." He affirmed. "I'm so glad now that we put that extra protection in place. That's the only reason why I'm not having a panic attack right now."

"But there's always a chance they could somehow break through the protective enchantments. I wouldn't really want to take the risk."

He grimaced at her.

"So I suppose we should tell Dumbledore, right?" Lily pursed her lips together.

"Probably." James sighed wearily. "But you know, Lils, there's a good chance he doesn't even realize he has it yet. Do you think, if we act quickly – "

"We could get it back using the invisibility cloak?" She bit her lip nervously.

"It would be tough without the map, but we could do it."

"It would include sneaking into the Slytherin common rooms, wouldn't it?" Lily's eyes grew wide at the thought. "And looking through Severus' stuff."

"I've done much worse." James muttered guiltily.

"Well I have no trouble believing that." She shook her head.

They arrived at the tower entrance. James pulled out his wand and tapped on the door. They ducked through, both deep in thought, and walked up the stairs in silence.

"I'll meet you down there in a minute, I'm going to bundle up a bit." Lily said, walking into her dorm.

"All right." James went down the hall to his dorm, dumped his stuff on his bed, and changed into a pair of faded jeans and a thick hoodie. He dug the invisibility cloak out of his trunk, and walked back out into the hall.

"Ready?" Lily came out of her dorm, wrapping a hand-knitted purple scarf around her neck, the basket of raspberry tarts hanging on her arm.

"Yup." They linked hands and walked down and out into the hall again.

"Since we don't have the map, we might want to use this." James held up his invisibility cloak.

"Do you think that's really necessary?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "We are head boy and girl after all."

"I'm not sure, but you know how Filch is. He seems to have the patrol schedule memorized, so he'll know it's not our turn, and it's after curfew."

"Not to mention Peeves." Lily added. So James threw the invisibility cloak over the both of them and they set off down the dim, quiet hall.

"Plus, I like being this close to you." James teased after a moment, looking down at her under the cloak.

"I knew that was the real reason." Lily rolled her eyes. "I guess I can tolerate it."

"Tolerate?" James scowled. "You sure know how to make a guy feel unloved, Lilykins."

"Well, you make up terrible nicknames."

"I do not!"

"Wormtail?"

"That one was Sirius' doing."

"Well, only Remus' nickname actually makes sense."

"Actually, they all make sense." James said quietly.

"How so?" Lily looked up at him quizzically.

"I guess I'll have to show you sometime." He gave a cheeky grin.

"Show me what?" She frowned.

"You'll find out when I show you."

"Which will be when?"

James shook his head. "You know, everyone probably thinks I'm the annoying one in this relationship, but you're bloody persistent."

"Are you saying I'm annoying?" Lily poked his firm stomach.

"Ouch!" He protested. "I wasn't flexing!"

"It certainly felt like you were." Lily mused.

"I knew you only wanted me for my body." James grinned teasingly.

"You're arrogant." Her full lips puckered into a disproving pout.

"Not the first time I've heard that come out of your mouth." He shrugged. "It's not my fault, though. You're the pervert."

"Am not!" Her jaw dropped an inch in indignation.

James just chuckled as redness rose to Lily's cheeks. "Is this your first time ever sneaking out of the castle after hours?"

"Yes." Lily replied, biting her bottom lip nervously, the pink still on her cheeks. "It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"

"Well I suppose I've become kind of accustomed to the thrill of it." James shrugged.

"Oh, yes, I forgot I'm speaking to the master." Lily rolled her eyes.

James gave a small bow in her direction. "At your service, Mademoiselle.

She smiled up at him from under the cloak, then sobered, her eyes debilitatingly enormous. "I'm really sorry about your map."

His brow furrowed. "It's not your fault."

"I do feel kind of responsible though." Her brow furrowed. "You and Severus wouldn't be fighting if it weren't for me."

"That's stupid, Lily." James said, but gently. "You can't blame yourself for existing. If we're going to think like that, we may as well blame me, Remus, Sirius, and Peter for making the map in the first place."

"I know, but you put a lot of work into that map. I just feel terrible that you lost it."

"A lot of it was Sirius' doing." James admitted.

"Yes, but I know it meant a lot to you and your, er, cronies."

"Yeah, I guess it really does. It's like the fifth marauder." He grinned. "We always argue over who's kids are going to inherit it."

Lily laughed. "Whoever has kids first?"

James nodded thoughtfully. "That means my kids."

Lily frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," James said matter-of-factly, "If I'm being honest, Peter is, regrettably, indefinitely single. Sirius can't take any relationships seriously—"

Lily stifled a giggle at his choice of wording.

"—and Remus doesn't put himself out there enough. He doesn't think he's ever going to get married because of his furry little problem." He sighed. It was all somewhat callous, but it was true.

"So that leaves you." Lily summarized, looking into his eyes intently under the cloak.

"So that leaves me." He repeated, a bit of sadness in his smile. "But you know I love kids. I would have twelve of the little buggers if it was up to me."

Lily's eyes widened in alarm. "I thought you were kidding about that in Hogsmeade!"

James chuckled at her expression. "I guess twelve isn't necessary. But being an only child, I've missed out on the whole sibling experience, so I want to have a big family."

"Me too." Lily said after a moment of silence. "My family is small to begin with, and I really only feel like I had a sister until I was eleven years old. It's almost like we weren't sisters anymore after I started at Hogwarts."

James squeezed her fingers in-between his. "I'm really sorry Lily. I wish I could make her see sense."

"It's all right." Lily gave a shaky sigh. "I have you now, and that really makes all the difference."

He gave a cheeky grin. "Stop it. I can almost feel my head inflating."

She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe how much I've come to appreciate your overlarge head."

"Me either." James shook his head. "But I must say, it's a positive change."

"Amazingly enough, for me too." She grinned back at him.

James could feel his heart beginning to race as it always did when Lily gazed into his eyes for a long time, before she stubbed her toe on a loose stone in the floor and tripped, so that the invisibility cloak slid off of her. The basket of desserts fell to the ground on its side, causing the cloth napkin full of tarts to fall halfway out and send one of the pastries flying across the hallway.

"Ow!" She began to jump on one foot. "That bloody hurt!"

James tried not to laugh, but he couldn't help it. He pulled the cloak off of himself so she could see him. "Are you all right?" he managed.

"Ergh. Yes." She winced as she put her foot back on the floor, casting him a resentful glance. "Bloody rocks. Whose idea was it to make a floor out of stones anyways?"

James was about to answer when a sudden wheezing sound alerted him.

"Who's there?" A disgruntled, male voice suddenly echoed down the hallway.

"Damn." James cursed under his breath.

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><p><strong>Please review! Chapter 16 is almost finished and I think you guys are gonna like it!(; But the amount of follows and favorites I've been getting in contrast to reviews is ridiculous. There's at least 10 followsfavorites for every review I receive. I love that you guys are following and favoriting, but I still want to hear your opinions-what you liked, what you didn't, what you want to see from Lily and James and all that jazz. So yeah, please review. I'll update faster if you do, honest! Thanks for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! So sorry about the wait, my laptop completely died, and when I eventually got it up and running again, I realized that I lost this chapter. So I had to re-write quite a bit of it even after I got my laptop fixed. One good thing came out of it; I realized I need to back up my laptop better, because if it had died permanently, I would have lost pretty much everything on it… Sorry, anyways, enjoy!**

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><p>James and Lily exchanged wide-eyed glances. James jumped into action, snatching the invisibility cloak off of the floor and quickly throwing it over himself, but holding it up over his head so that Lily could join him.<p>

"Hold on!" she whispered, bending at the waist to snatch up the basket. She quickly scooped up the napkin full of tarts and tossed it in, then ran and grabbed the tart that had flown out, and scrambled back under the invisibility cloak just as the sound of shuffling footsteps approached them.

"Students out of bed?" Filch sniffed around the corner, Mrs. Norris on his heels.

James could feel the cat's luminous yellow eyes on the two of them under the cloak, and she mewed loudly. He scowled at the cat.

Lily stifled a nervous giggle under the cloak. James shot her a warning glance, grabbed her wrist, and led her, on tiptoe, down the hall, away from Filch and Mrs. Norris. They crept quietly down the hall, decorated by numerous paintings of food and kitchen-related fare. They slinked silently to the end of the hall, to an old, rickety set of stairs that James knew led to the back of a broom closet on the next floor. James glanced back down the hall to see Filch tickling the pear on the painting of fruit. He probably thought that they had vanished into the kitchens.

_Up_? Lily mouthed at him, pointing up, her brow furrowed.

He grinned and shook his head, pointing downward.

She cast him a bemused stare, her eyebrows knitting together.

He let go of her wrist, ducked out from under the invisibility cloak and stooped under the staircase, where a large crate took up most of the small space. He quietly tipped the crate onto its side, pulled up a trapdoor, wincing as it gave a low creak, and jumped down into the blackness.

After several feet of free-falling, he landed, crouched on soft dirt in a small, dark tunnel.

"_James_?" Lily's whispered voice echoed down the tunnel from above.

"Don't worry, I've got you!" James called in a reassuring whisper. "Close the trapdoor behind you!"

There was a shuffling noise, a small squeal of fear, and a slam as they were closed into darkness.

Lily flew down and landed in James's open arms with a muffled "Umph!"

James chuckled and reluctantly set her back on her feet. He liked holding her in his arms; it made him feel in a strange way that she depended on him. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She was slightly breathless. "That was scary!"

"You don't sound too torn up about it."

"What can I say?" she shrugged, her auburn hair bunching up between her chin and shoulder. "You're a bad influence on me."

They set off down the dark, narrow tunnel, James in the lead.

"I know." He agreed. "Would your parents hate me if they knew I was turning you into a rule-breaker?"

She rolled her eyes at the low ceiling. "Are you kidding me? They never call me a stick in the mud to my face, but I know they wish I'd loosen up a little sometimes."

"Really?" James was taken aback. It seemed like such an odd thing for parents to wish for. Didn't every parent wish for a child like Lily? His certainly did. Well, his mum at least. She always griped about it when she received letters from the Hogwarts staff complaining about his behavior. His father, though, pretended to back his wife, but didn't seem to really mind James' mischief. He was the same way when he was in school. Being a magnet for trouble seemed to run in the family. Or maybe it was actually the talent to cause trouble.

"Yeah." She replied. "Tuney's even worse then me though. She walks around like she's got a wand stuck up her arse."

James let out a shout of laughter. "So when do I get to meet her?"

Lily made a face, wrinkling her nose. "It's almost impossible to imagine you and Tuney in the same room."

"What about your parents?"

Her nose unwrinkled. "That's easier to think about. I think they would like you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They're like Alice; they find it amusing that I didn't like you for so long and now…"

"Yes?" He smiled teasingly over his shoulder at her.

"Things are different now." She grinned sheepishly back at him.

They walked at a good pace down the tunnel, their conversation flowing easily from topic to topic: quidditch, classes and classmates, plans for the Christmas ball, which somehow morphed into recollections of their most memorable holidays. James was telling her about the time he first accidentally used magic, the Christmas he was eight years old, when they exited the tunnel through a hollow tree near Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"I know it's kind of odd, but I was just so happy they got me that broom, I couldn't contain myself. And the next thing I know, I'm floating on the ceiling!"

Lily laughed as they pushed through a bunch of bushes and came to stand on the fringe of the Forbidden forest, the bright moonlight filtering in through the canopy of pine needles above them.

"Do you know how many times I walked past this tree?" Lily asked rhetorically, gaping back at entrance of the tunnel, well concealed by the big, soft-leafed bushes. "I never imagined there was a secret entrance to the school there. How on earth did you find all these secret passages?"

"In the past couple years the four of us have done a lot of wandering out and about the school." James chuckled. "And you can imagine how much easier it is, having an infallible invisibility cloak."

"Infallible?" Lily repeated dubiously. "Don't invisibility cloaks usually wear out after a certain number of uses?"

"Usually." James shrugged. "But mine's been in the family for centuries, and to my knowledge, it's never been repaired or refurbished or anything."

"Hmm." Lily said thoughtfully. "You'd better be careful," she teased as they walked along the edge of the forest. "Soon I'll know all the marauder's secrets."

He grinned wickedly. "Yeah, right."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What more could there possibly be? I know about Remus's 'furry little problem,' I know at least half the secret passages, the room of requirement, and I know your nonsensical nicknames, though you do have yet to tell me the reasons behind them." She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Well, that's kind of the biggest marauder secret of them all." He said matter-of-factly.

She looked at him, the curiosity apparent in her face. Would she be mad if he told her? She would have to find out eventually anyways. Would she turn them in? It was illegal, after all.

"Let's eat our dessert. If it survived, that is." He changed the subject, though knowing that she wouldn't let him forget about it.

"All right." She agreed, albeit narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him. "Where do you want to sit? I think a few of them survived the fall."

"Erm…" His eyes searched the edge of the forest and came to rest upon a thick, fallen tree trunk, partially covered in moss. "How about this?" He pulled her over to it and sat tenderly on a patch of green moss. It was oddly comfortable.

"Sure." She climbed up onto the trunk beside him and folded her legs into a criss-crossed position, setting the basket in her lap. She rummaged through the cloth full of napkins and tossed a rather beat-up looking tart into the forest.

"That was the one that fell on the floor." She said, pulling out two more tarts, in slightly better shape than the last.

"What, you don't want that one?" He said jokingly.

"Mmm, yes, essence of shoe bottoms." She wrinkled her nose as she handed him one of the tarts on a white square of linen.

He took a bite. The pastry was light and airy, the raspberries smooth and sweet on his tongue. "These are really good, Lils." He commented. "Did you help make these?"

"Mhmm" she nodded, her mouth full of tart.

"So you had fun with the house elves?"

She nodded again. "They're adorable. And they act like I'm their favorite person in the whole world."

"They don't get many visitors." James grinned.

"Hey!" she scowled at him. "I think it has more to do with the fact that I am just amazing in general."

James wrinkled his brow as though thinking very hard while he took another bite of his tart. "No," he shook his head after a moment. "I don't think that can be it."

She laughed lightheartedly. "I really liked working with them, though. They're just so cheerful; it's like there's nothing they'd rather be doing than mixing batter and scrubbing pans."

"Well, maybe there is nothing they would rather be doing." He said placidly.

She gazed pensively across the grounds, chewing slowly. "Maybe." She paused for a moment, her eyebrows forming a V on her forehead. "How did house elves come about? Have they always served wizards? Or did we just enslave them a long time ago?"

James scratched his nose and tried to remember what he had read about house elves in A History of Magic. "I know it's hard to think about, but I'm pretty sure house elves have been around serving wizards since wizards first came into existence."

"Which was when?" she looked at him, but he could tell she wasn't really expecting an answer.

"Whenever humans came into existence, I guess." He gazed back at her steadily. She had a small pastry crumb on her lower lip and he hesitantly reached towards her. She froze, her eyes locked on his uncertainly as his fingers brushed her cheek.

He gently cupped her chin in his hand and wiped the crumb away with his thumb, causing her to shiver slightly under his touch. She blushed as he drew his hand away.

"I'm kind of a messy eater." She grinned sheepishly.

"Me koo." He said, his voice muffled through the large piece of pastry he had just stuffed in his mouth.

She laughed at his chipmunk expression and stuffed the rest of hers in her mouth as well, cheeks bulging.

"Mmm, wuh foe matrakiv." Lily said incomprehensibly.

"Wha?" James replied.

"I seh, we ahh so attracive." She said more articulated, both hands covering her mouth as she struggled to chew.

James laughed, nearly choking as he attempted to swallow the huge lump of dough in his mouth. "Oh, yes. Irresistible." He managed, clearing his throat.

"Gah." Lily coughed. "That was terrible."

"Imagine eating like that all the time." James laughed at her expression. "I don't know how Sirius does it."

Lily grinned—she always made fun of Sirius's eating habits, which, depending on the day, ranged from fairly dreadful to simply vomit-inducing.

"Definitely takes a special skill to eat in the perfect imitation of a starving troll." She agreed.

He chuckled and jumped up from his seat on the tree trunk.

"Are you going to show me whatever the big secret is now?" Lily said, throwing their linen napkins back into the basket and brushing the crumbs off of her hands.

"I don't know…" he said thoughtfully. "I'm afraid of how you'll react."

She looked at him intensely, the moon reflecting in her eyes. "I solemnly swear I will not go mad, no matter what it is."

He cracked a grin. "That's a hefty promise to keep."

"Okay," she conceded. "I would probably go mad on you if you were all covertly death eaters."

He froze, looking at her in apparent alarm, his eyes wide.

She also froze, her hands petrified in midair.

He laughed suddenly, causing her to relax. "Don't do that!" she smacked him good-naturedly in the arm.

"Come on, Lils," he rolled his eyes. "Do you really have that little faith in me?"

She wrinkled her lips together, eyes worried. "No… I think I just have trouble trusting people…"

"Because of Snape." James surmised, feeling his eyes harden at her heartbreaking expression.

"You can't distract me," She said suddenly, a playful grin coming onto her face. "I want to know what the big secret is."

She looked at him expectantly, her lower lip sticking out slightly.

"Ehh… I don't know Lils." He grimaced. "The guys might kill me if I show you."

Her eyes were achingly wide, innocent and curious.

"Please?" she put on a puppy-dog face remarkably similar to Sirius's.

He rolled his eyes and released her hand. "Fine," he sighed. "Follow me."

He walked into the shadows of the forest again and she followed behind curiously. "Just don't scream, okay?"

"Okay?" Lily clamped a hand over her mouth as a precaution as James backed away from her. He could feel the curiosity radiating off her from a meter away.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax, despite feeling Lily's scrutinizing eyes on him. He let the darkness behind his lids consume him, retreating deep within himself, to the part of his consciousness at the back of his mind that was more creature than human, the part of him that had been irrevocably altered in fifth year when he, Sirius, and Peter transformed for the first time. He focused every particle of his being in that corner of his mind, feeling the powerful, instinctual freedom, like vapors around the edges of the animal abyss. He dived into the pool with all of his mind, soul, and body, causing a shift in his very core. His various muscle groups pulled and stretched rapidly, causing an itching discomfort as he changed from his human form into something entirely different. Hair sprung up all over his body as he dropped to all fours, his feet and hands shrinking and hardening into shiny black hooves. His skull splintered painfully as a great crown of antlers rapidly sprung out of it. His nose and neck elongated, his limbs narrowed and his ears pulled outward as he entered his second form. He shook his head once the shift was complete, slightly off balance by the sudden weight atop his head. Despite how many times he'd changed, it always threw him off to have the huge prongs suddenly sticking out of his skull. Lily's face looked a bit strange, the paleness of her skin and the redness of her hair coming into his vision slightly different through the creature's eyes, but the surprise pasted on her face was so utterly obvious, it was almost laughable. She stood, frozen, her eyes shaped more like galleons than almonds in pure shock. He stayed where he was, dipping his head slightly so that his eyes were at her level. Even though he was on four legs, his long limbs and neck made it so his head was still above hers. They stared at each-other for an immeasurable moment.

"James?" She finally uttered, her voice small.

He dipped his head twice, like a nod.

"Merlin's beard." She gasped, her mouth hanging open slightly.

He struck a pose, sticking his neck out to show off his antlers ostentatiously.

She giggled nervously. "Okay, you're definitely still the James I know."

He resumed a more natural position and looked at her intently, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Prongs…" she said slowly, understanding suddenly dawning on her face. He dipped his head.

"You're not registered, are you?" she said after a moment.

James gave a snort that would have been laughter in his human shape. Of course, she didn't care that he turned into an enormous stag at will, but rather, that he turned into an enormous stag at will illegally. Only Lily. She took a small step forward, reaching cautiously toward him. She paused, her hand an inch away from his nose. He stepped forward, nuzzling his face on her hand. She laughed nervously, stroking the fur on his neck. "I always liked deer."

He shook his head slightly, pawing the ground with a hoof.

"Oh, sorry." She amended. "Stag, right?"

He nodded again.

"Hey, watch the antlers." She laughed, stepping back slightly.

He tossed his head playfully, causing her to shriek and trip backwards. He snorted a laugh again.

"Stop that!" she laughed, regaining her balance. "You could spear me through with one of those things by complete accident!"

He moved forward slowly and nosed her hand again. She pulled her fingers through his fur slowly, eliciting a soft, contented sound from the base of his throat.

"Did you just purr?" Lily said, her voice disbelieving.

He snorted and moved around her so that she was facing his side. He looked at her over his shoulder pointedly.

"What?"

He nodded his head towards her and then looked at his back.

"You want me to get on?" she said, her voice even more disbelieving.

He shook his head up and down in a small, vigorous movement.

"Are you sure?" she looked at him reluctantly. "That doesn't seem safe."

He turned so she could see his eyes rolling

She stared at him for a moment, appraising. He rolled his eyes again and sank to the ground, folding his legs underneath him.

She looked at him uncomfortably. "I don't know, James. People aren't supposed to ride stags."

_People aren't supposed to turn into stags, either,_ He wanted to say, but he pawed the ground again instead.

She hesitantly stepped towards him, biting her lower lip. James restrained an amused snort at her uneasiness, but looked straight ahead patiently. She swung her leg over him and carefully lowered herself onto his back.

"Where do I hold on?" she asked aloud. He turned his head around slowly to stare at her with a patronizing look. "Never mind." She said hastily. "Sorry." She grabbed the bases of his antlers and gave him a questioning look.

He shook her hands off as a negative.

"Okay…" she wrapped her arms around his thick, furry neck. "Is that okay?" He nodded an affirmative, and when he felt her weight settle in the right place, he slowly rose to his full height and headed out of the forest.

Lily gave a small squeak of fear and leaned into him, tightening her hold around his neck. "James…" she said, sounding terrified. "I thought I didn't like brooms, but this is much scarier."

He snorted and strode a bit faster, trying to keep his gait even so not to jostle her. James transformed into a fairly large stag, but even so, it was a good thing Lily was so petite. "James!" Her knees tightened around him as he went into a trot. He ran towards the black lake, wondering what a student would think if they looked out their dormitory window. Even at Hogwarts, it wasn't an everyday thing to see a student riding an enormous stag across the grounds. Having Lily cling to him like this reminded him he had taken her for a ride on his broom back at the beginning of term. So much had changed, but they still flew over the grounds as they had then. He sprinted across the dewy grounds, comforted by the weight of Lily on his back, her legs wrapped securely around his sides. He listened to the flow of air in and out of his lungs and Lily's breath in his ear. They flew in the quiet, the only other noises being the cool wind in their faces and the clicking of his hooves over rocks and the muted thump across grass. Lily buried her face into his neck.

"This is incredible." She whispered. His stag form didn't respond to Lily quite the same way as his human body did, but he felt the thrill of desire rush through his veins all the same. He galloped on for quite some time, past the Whomping Willow, which brought up so many memories of fabulous adventures and narrow escapes. He went on, past the Black Lake, Hagrid's hut, and straight into the Forbidden Forest. "James!" Lily exclaimed nervously as he ran deep into the dark wood. "The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason!"

James wished he could speak, to reassure her. The forest contained some dangerous creatures, but if you knew where to go, it was almost perfectly safe. He slowed to a canter, then envisioned his human feet.

_Ten toes._  
><em>Two long legs.<em>  
><em>Two arms, human eyes, human ears…<em>

_Human._

And then his two legs returned and Lily was still on his back, her arms wrapped around his now furless neck. She gave a small gasp of surprise as James pulled Lily around him and into his arms, lost his balance, and went toppling backwards onto a conveniently grown patch of soft moss. He landed on his backside, his legs folded, with a heavy thwomp. James looked at Lily's startled face and wide emerald eyes as they laughed, their faces close together.

"You okay?" He shifted his body into a more upright position. Her legs were still wrapped around his waist. He expected her to untangle herself from him, but she just grinned. "Fine. You could have given me a little warning though."

He laughed. "How so? That would've taken all the fun out of it anyways." He tried not to glance down at her hands, resting on his chest. He rested backwards against the large tree trunk they had fallen in front of. "Glad we didn't hit this tree." Lily glanced up at the tough bark of the thick trunk.

"Me too." He agreed, although he knew he would've never let any harm come to Lily. It was warmer in the forest, protected from the cold air. The moon shone through the branches, casting pale light down on them.

"Full moon soon?" Lily asked also gazing up at the bright moon. He gulped at the sight of her pale slender neck, so close and exposed.

"Yeah." James sighed. "I wish I could do something."

Lily looked at him, her brow furrowed, then back at the moon. Her voice was measured and a little too casual when she spoke again. "So… why exactly did you become animagus?"

James opened his mouth wordlessly, his mind racing. Should he tell her? She was still Lily Evans; head girl. He didn't want to get the marauders in trouble with Dumbledore, or worse, the Ministry of Magic. What they did was admittedly reckless and dangerous, and definitely punishable by expulsion from Hogwarts. Apparently his worries were unnecessary, though. He didn't need to tell her anything.

"You go out with him don't you?" She said, the statement not really a question. "Every full moon you transform with him."

Apparently his expression was answer enough, because she took his silence as an affirmative.

"James Potter." She said in awe, looking into his eyes with smoldering intensity. "You are the most foolish, reckless, brave, and loyal man I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

He noticed that with every adjective she used, her chin tiled upwards, inching her lips up closer to his.

His heart pounded against his ribs beneath her fingertips. He tried to move, but he was frozen, his eyes locked on hers. She leaned her body even closer to him, her head tilting ever so slightly to the side, her full lips tantalizingly parted, just daring him to fill the space with his own.

She was so close; even in the moonlight he could have counted her long, auburn eyelashes

_One_.

She was even closer still; he could see every tiny freckle on her light, cheeks.

_Two_.

Reflected moonlight flecked silver into her eyes, accentuating the exhilaration that simmered barely underneath the surface.

_Three._

Suddenly he couldn't stand the tension anymore, and he closed the space between them in a fraction of a second. Their lips touched, sending adrenaline rushing through his veins. Her lips tasted like the most plump, sweet summer raspberries; her hands were hot around his neck like rays of the scorching sun, burning, blazing, unstoppable. Their lips moved together, soft, slow, and gentle, but with a smoldering passion.

One of his hands moved to her jawbone and gently cradled her face closer to his own, the other's fingers knotted into her sweet smelling hair.

It was hard to distinguish his body from hers, the connection between them was so strong it blurred the lines of their identities. Her legs tightened around his waist; her fingers lingered on his neck, curling into his hair; they traced along his chest and arms, igniting a blaze along his skin like he'd never felt before.

When her teeth brushed the inside of is bottom lip, his hands slid down her face to her slender, arching neck and arms, coming to rest on her hips. He pulled her closer to him with what was probably unwise aggression, but she didn't seem to be bothered by this. Her chest pressed against his, closing the already minimal space between them. Their lips danced, gracefully, perfectly, sending electricity through every vein in James' body. She let out a barely audible moan as James' tongue lightly brushed against the lower rim of her mouth. He was painfully aware as her hand inched up to the collar of his sweatshirt and yanked it closer to her to intensify the kiss. Her other hand slid down to the hem of his sweatshirt and slid under it, the light caress of her warm fingertips causing his stomach muscles to tense and his breath to hitch in his throat. Their lips came apart when they could no longer breathe, at which point James found his own lips trailing away to her throat, kissing the soft and supple skin beneath her ear, at the base of her neck.

"_James_!" she gasped, her breathless voice fueling the fire burning in his veins. He let his teeth graze her collarbone, causing her entire body to quiver against his.

"James." She said again, struggling to put authority into her tone. She took his face in her hands and drew away from him.

He pulled his lips away from her throat to look her in the eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wild. "Please" she breathed, beginning to untangle her limbs from his. Her breath came in jagged gasps. "I just—" she shook her head as James watched her pull away sadly.

She got off of him and rested her back against the tree beside him, pulling air in through her nose and out through her mouth with steady concentration, leaving a good amount of space between them. She closed her eyes, her hands balled up into fists in her lap.

"Sorry." James said meekly, also trying to keep his body in check.

She shook her head as a wide grin slid onto her face, her eyes still closed. "I'm not." He felt his expression mirror hers, an uncontrollable, wild smile, taking over his face as she turned to look at him. She still had that untamed, sparkling look in her eyes. "I just—" she looked up at the moon. "It's easy to loose control around you, and I – just want—to be careful." She looked suddenly uncomfortable.

James slowly reached out and put his hand over hers, which immediately uncurled and rested in his. She looked down at their entwined fingers, a contemplative look on her face.

"I won't let you do anything you regret." He promised her sincerely.

She looked up and smiled warmly. "I trust you." She replied, her eyes earnest. "I just don't trust myself."

"That's a little backwards, isn't it?" He chuckled.

"I suppose." She shrugged, staring off into the forest.

"Don't worry Lils." He looked at her intently. "I'd like to do things properly."

She frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean-" he felt very uncomfortable all of the sudden. "I wouldn't want to do anything I would ashamed to tell my parents." He faltered, feeling awkward. "I mean, unless I were, you know, married or something."

She gave a very un-Lily-ish giggle, then clamped her free hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry." She said repentantly. "I just… did not expect that from Quidditch star James Potter, fangirl extraordinaire."

He chuckled. "Well, I'm really just James Potter, a guy who likes Quidditch and is singly crazy about a girl named Lily Evans." He pulled at the string of his hoodie, discreetly checking his pulse. His heart was still going wild after their kiss. Merlin. He had just kissed Lily Evan. And she'd been the one to initiate it. What universe was this?

She smiled brilliantly at him. "You know, I'm pretty crazy about you too." She admitted, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be out here, in the Forbidden forest in the middle of the night.

He checked his watch. "It's hardly the middle of the night Lily. It's not even twelve o' clock yet."

"Still past my bedtime." She shrugged.

"Oh, please." He rolled his eyes, getting to his feet and pulling her up with him.

"Are we going back now?" Lily asked, smoothing her clothes out.

"Well I have to get you in bed, now don't I, grandma?"

She gave him a strange look.

"Oh, you know what I meant." He rolled his eyes again.

"Sorry." She shook her head at herself. "After the conversation we just had, I'm hearing things a little differently."

"Conversation?" James quirked his eyebrows suggestively.

She smiled somewhat bashfully, but her eyes gleamed mischievously. "Excellent conversation, huh?"

"The most excellent." He nodded in agreement as they started their way back to the entrance of the secret passageway. They had a long walk ahead of them, as James had traversed almost the entire grounds.

They exchanged a cheerful glance.

"You know I'd never kissed anyone before?" Lily said, her voice thoughtful.

"Really?" James looked at her, surprised. "Never? What about when you were a kid?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "When I was younger I mostly hung out with Tuney, and my muggle friends, Joanna and Taylor… and, well, you know, Severus too."

"But nothing ever-?"

"Course not." She said hastily.

"How… why did you become friends with him, really?" James said inquisitively. "Not to be brusque, but… wasn't he always as unpleasant as he is now?"

She gave a small laugh. "No, he was never foul to me when we were kids. I always admired him for being so good to me even though he was raised in the worst home. His parents were really awful, but he was still so kind, protective, and supportive."

James frowned, trying to imagine Snape as kind or supportive. He really couldn't. Protective, yes. He knew all too well that Snape was still incredibly protective of Lily. The slight, but steady throbbing in the back of his head reminded him of that much. She seemed to have that effect on people rather strongly. He wasn't sure why; she was a more than capable witch and could easily defend herself. But something about her made him want to shield her, guard her from any harm that might possibly come her way. Apparently it was the same with Snape.

"I know it's hard for you to believe." Lily said, seeming to read his mind. "But he was always that way with me. Only me though. I could never quite seem to figure out why." She looked into the distance pensively.

He just looked at her expectantly.

"But to answer your question…" she said slowly, "How, I mean, I came to be such good friends with him… When I first met him, he brought me the best news I had ever heard. I was a witch! And not the nasty type of witch Tuney thought of when he told me," She gave a sad chuckle, "but someone privileged with special, undeserved abilities, with a ticket into a magical world full of wonder and excitement. I was elated. Of course I wanted to be around him after that. Even though my overbearing older sister didn't like him very much, the desire to know more about who I was and the world I had entered was more powerful than my anxiety about what my sister thought about him. Of course we became friends. We explored our abilities together, and he told me so much about this universe that I could hardly believe was actually real. At first, we talked endlessly about Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, dragons, sphinxes, and hippogriffs, what wizards and witches did for work after they finished school, how they traveled around, and just the way they live with magic available to them. We also talked about blood status and what it meant." She paused for a moment. "He told me it didn't matter that I was muggleborn." She shook her head, breathing deeply. "And I believed him."

The venom in her voice burned just below the surface. She felt betrayed and lied to, that much was obvious. But it was also obvious that she still cared about him. Not the way he cared about her, but in her own way.

"But after we had exhausted topics of magic, we talked about other stuff. We would just lie in the grass at the park and talk for hours." She laughed weakly at some old memory. "My mum banned me from watching the telly for a week once because I was with him for so long and she thought I'd been kidnapped. But…" She drifted off for a moment, seeming to internally debate with herself. "he told me about his parents and how they argued all the time, and how sometimes his dad would hit him and his mom would try to stop him, and he'd hit her too." The words came out all in a rush, like she'd wanted to say them for a long time. "Sometimes he showed up outside my bedroom window, crying, his face black and blue. I always wanted to tell my parents, but he never let me. He said that his dad would hit him more if he found out, and I was scared that he was right." She choked up a little, and hurriedly wiped her cheek. "It was terrifying for me, to see him like that and not be able to do anything about it. I just wanted to help so badly."

James squeezed her hand encouragingly. She'd talked about Snape before, but never in so much detail. It helped him understand a little, why Snape was so bitter, why he was the way he was. But it still didn't excuse his behavior and his ridiculous obsession with the Dark Arts. And nothing excused wanting to kill off muggleborns and take charge of muggles. Nothing. James could sympathize, but he could not empathize. He could not understand how Snape could hurt Lily the way he had. No decent person could do that to someone like Lily, so kind, innocent, genuine and deep down, pure and whole.

"So we talked a lot. And through his troubles, and our mutual excitement over being a witch and a wizard, we became best friends. He was good to me, James, I swear it." Lily said earnestly, her eyes pleading as they looked into his. "I know you think I'm a fool for having a soft spot for him, still, after all he's said to me, but he wasn't always that way."

"I don't think you're a fool, Lily." He replied softly. "I understand. He carved a hole in you just for him when you were kids, and it hasn't completely healed. It's not your fault that you still care."

She gave a watery smile. "I – thank-you James."

"I still don't like the bloke." James said lightly, smiling. "And he really is a greasy git."

She choked a laugh, wiping more tears away. "I know. How can you love someone, but dislike them at the same time?"

He shrugged casually, though his heart ached at her words. "It's definitely possible. For example, you disliked me for years, but you actually loved me the whole time."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Sure, sure."

"You know it's true!" he teased.

"There's always been a part of me that really resented him, though." Lily said, her voice hardening. "He's the reason Tuney hates me. And I don't like to blame people for things that happen, but if he hadn't treated her the way he had… if he hadn't suggested reading that letter from Dumbledore to her… if he hadn't mocked her for being normal, if he hadn't made that branch fall on her that one day…" Her eyes were distant, thinking about a day far in the past. "I think things would have been different. If I just would have found out the normal way, well, how muggleborns usually find out, if Dumbledore would have just come to my house and explained calmly to me and my parents… I don't think Tuney would hate me so much. She might have still been jealous, but she probably wouldn't feel so… I don't know, un-special… resentful… jealous." She pursed her lips sadly. "I did always hold that against him, in a way. So even if things weren't the way they are, with him, you know, wanting to kill me and everything, we could never be more than friends."

James shook his head at her weak attempt at humor. "He doesn't want to kill you, Lily. He still loves you too." It pained him to say it, but it was true.

She looked at him, her eyes passionate. "James," she said seriously.

"Yes?"

"You're my best friend, you know that, right?"

He grinned. "Alice wouldn't be happy to hear that."

She cracked a grin back at him. "I know, so don't tell her I said that. But really, you are. I'm so glad I can trust you, and talk to you about all this stuff. You have no idea how long I've been wanting to get that off my chest."

"You're my best friend too, Lils." He said, beaming. "You really are my favorite girl in the whole world. Always have been."

They walked across the grounds in silence for a while, both of them deep in thought.

"Thanks for telling me all of that." James said after a time. "It's good to know everything, to understand you, and him, a little better."

"Thank you for listening." She replied, the words heartfelt.

"You know I'll listen anytime."

"I know." She smiled brightly at him. "You're an excellent listener."

"I try." He shrugged.

"So." Lily said, her voice suddenly changing from serious to speculating curiosity. "Padfoot and Wormtail?"

James chuckled. "I was wondering when you would ask about that."

"Does Peter really turn into a worm?"

He threw his head back and laughed. "No!"

"Well what does he turn into, then?" She asked, her brow furrowed.

"Have another guess."

"Er…"

"A rat." James supplied.

"You're joking." She looked at him disbelievingly.

"Nope." He popped the P loudly.

"For real? A rat?"

"Yup." He grinned at her reaction.

She made a face. "It just… it kind of… fits."

He fell into another fit of laughter. "Don't let Peter hear you say that!" He warned as his laughter subsided.

"But it really does." She frowned, clearly troubled. He even has the protruding teeth…"

"I know." He grinned.

"And Padfoot?" She asked curiously.

"The Grim."

"The what?" Her eyebrows knit together.

"The Grim, from Divination." He grinned.

"He turns into the Grim?"

"Basically."

"He turns into an omen of death?" She clarified, confused.

"Yes. He jokes that it reflects his deadly good looks."

Lily rolled his eyes. "Of course he does."

"I always say that if our animagus forms reflected our looks, he would be a platypus, but he disagrees."

"So he's like, a big, black dog?"

"Enormous."

"So you turn into an enormous stag, Sirius turns into an enormous dog… does Peter turn into an enormous rat?" She made a face.

James laughed again. "Ehh, not really. I think mine and Sirius's forms are so big because we're both naturally so tall. Peter's pretty short and stout, so as a rat, he's pretty… short and stout.

Lily laughed. "Poor Peter."

Lily interrogated him about their transformations as they traversed the grounds in the moonlight. "Does it hurt when you, you know, change?"

"Not too much," He replied. "It did the first time. I think I'm just used to it now."

"When exactly did you transform the first time?" she inquired.

"Sometime in the middle of fifth year."

"How long did it take you to figure it out?"

"Best part of three years." He said thoughtfully. "We found out about Remus's… condition toward the end of our first year, and we came up with the idea when we started our second year. And then it took a while to actually start working on the plan."

"I can't believe you were already so troublesome when you were barely twelve years old." Liy rolled her eyes toward the heavens.

He shrugged. "It's a gift."

"Well this explains how you know the grounds so well." She said broodingly.

"You know what?" James said suddenly.

"What?" Lily looked at him.

"I just realized how well you reacted to the fact that me and two of my mates have been running around Hogwarts with a werewolf as illegal animagi for the past two years."

She raised her eyebrows, her lips thin.

"Would it really matter if I disapproved?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, you could always turn us in to McGonogall."

" I would only do that if I wished you a slow and painful death." She replied offhandedly.

He chuckled. "I appreciate that."

"So make sure you don't do anything that causes me to wish you a slow and painful death, or you're in trouble."

"How sweet." He said dryly.

She laughed and put her hand in his, a gesture that seemed as natural as a cool breeze wafting through the branches of a willow. The walked in silence for a while, admiring their surroundings. The grounds were still beautiful in the dark, although everything appeared slightly monochromatic in the shadows of the night.

"Hey, we're almost there already." Lily said, surprised, as they approached Hagrid's wood cabin.

"Yep, nearly there."

"Sorry." Lily apologized suddenly. "I think I talked the whole time."

James grinned at her. "It's okay, I'm glad you did."

"Me too." She grinned back at him. "It's kind of a new sensation, having someone know everything. Even Alice doesn't know all of that."

James felt his eyebrows involuntarily vanish into his hair.

"So feel special." She commanded, grinning.

"I do." He grinned back, his eyes locked on hers. As the words slipped from his lips he felt an overwhelming sense of knowing, knowing that one day he would speak those words again in an entirely different situation, but once again to the perfect girl in front of him, the only girl he'd ever loved. "I definitely do."

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! I would love to hear your opinion!<strong>


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